


Aruenaristy Vol. II

by Aria_Alanna



Series: Aruenaristy [2]
Category: Shall We Date?: Wizardess Heart+
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst and Porn, Angst and Romance, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama & Romance, F/M, Oral Sex, Sex, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 12:49:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 44,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21969610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria_Alanna/pseuds/Aria_Alanna
Summary: Sequel of Aruenaristy: Months after the ending of the first work, Aruenaristy, Liz and Willem are separated due to an unfortunate event. This leads to the two of them having a taste of life without each other. Liz goes to Nighttime Kingdom where she meets new friends that help her to get back on her feet, and unkwnowingly help Willem and Liz find each other.
Relationships: Amelia Nile/Scarlett Quinn, Lucious Duller/Claudia, Willem V. Rembrandt/Main Character
Series: Aruenaristy [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1581448
Comments: 25
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: In this series, there's a new character that's from another game from the NTT Solmare Corporation: Story Jar.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: All characters and locations shown in this fanfic belong to NTT Solmare Corporation. No rights infringement meant to. This is just for pure entertainment.

A few months had passed since the king had left the kingdom to attend some diplomatic events and meetings. His possible return to the capital was the talk of the city and those in the palace were the most anxious and alert to any word of the possible date of his soon-to-come arrival, since they had to prepare and get everything ready for when the king arrived.

The Prime Minister was running through one of the halls, when he heard some laughs from the nearest garden. He stopped, looked down from the rail and saw his three nephews having lunch with her, which was quite odd since they had never eaten the three of them together unless there was a major event that required the princes to be seated at the same table. Those events normally involved an ambassador, or a royal member of another kingdom, or the presence of their father, the king, but they would all sit in one table and didn't talk to each other, or talked the least possible. However, now they were all together laughing at something she had said.

“It was her idea,” stated a voice behind the shadows.

A dark pink-haired man with fair skin and a mask that covered half of his face stepped into the light so the Prime Minister would see him.

“What was her idea?” asked Conrad confused.  
“To have prince Willem tighten his relationship with his brothers,” he answered looking at them as well. “She suggested this brunch and made all the arrangements.”  
“I see…”

She definitely had an influence with his nephews.

“They love her,” Conrad sighed.  
“What makes you think so, Sire?” asked Vain in the shadows.  
“Because of the way they look at her,” he replied.

He was contemplating at his three nephews having a lovely brunch with her. They were all looking at her as she was the most precious thing for them.

“And why shouldn’t they? She’s young, beautiful and, for the reports Hugo, Aaron and you have been giving me, she has some magnetism within her. She can charm easily anyone…”  
“Have you been alone with her, Sire?” asked Vain. The last part the Prime Minister had said it with a mystifying tone that made the dark pink-haired man to suspect he had.  
“I have,” Conrad confirmed.  
“And…?”  
“She’s charming indeed,” he declared folding his arms. “I can’t blame my nephews for falling for her. If I were younger, I would…” he didn’t finish.  
“Indeed, we would…” Vain said. He wanted to make sure that the Prime Minister felt sure to confide in him.

Conrad understood. Vain also fancied her as well.

“I’m afraid I will have to tell my brother when he comes home,” he declared.  
“What for?”  
“Willem is very serious with her. He’s fallen in love deeply. That’s not…”

Conrad sat down at near bench. Vain remained behind the pillar watching over the heir prince, yet he continued to listen to the Prime Minister.

“I love my nephew,” he stated.  
“I know, Sire, as much as you would love your own son,” Vain observed.  
“It pains me to see his happiness might be in jeopardy… As soon as my brother enters the castle and he finds out about her…”  
“Could she become the wife of one of the other princes?” Vain asked knowing that Lacan and Felix also loved her deeply.

Conrad shook his head.

“I wouldn’t allow it. Whoever she marries it will only make the other two miserable.”  
“What are you planning to do?”  
“I still don’t know.”

Vain casted a glance at the Prime Minister. He looked miserable, desperate to try an answer that would bring happiness for his three nephews, knowing already that there was none. Vain felt sorry for him.

“You know the worst part?” he said getting up and nearing to the balcony again.  
“What?”  
“I fear trouble is just around the corner,” he commented.  
“You base your fear on what, Sire?”  
“It’s just… a terrible feeling…”

The guardian looked at them again and he sighed. Then he addressed to the Prime Minister.

“Sire, I shall remind you what you told me once: we shall cross that bridge when we get there. We’ve still got some time before the King arrives.”  
“I know my brother shan’t accept the relationship, so I want to be prepared to offer a solution. What is the situation between Willem and her?”

Vain was glad that his hair was covering most of his face. Otherwise, the Prime Minister would’ve laughed at his bashful expression.

“He and the prince are quite intimate, Sire.”  
“How many people know about their relationship?”  
“Hard to say, Sire. But we’ve managed to keep it inside the Castle. According to the people outside, the prince spends his time in solitude.”  
“Good. Keep it that way for as long as you can.”  
“We’ll do it, Sire.”

Vain bowed and returned to his hiding spot. Conrad remained looking at the four of them a little longer, then he decided to continue his way back to his office.

* * *

What was incredible to Willem is that once he had been with Liz in that intimate and passionate way, the girl had transformed before him into his wildest male fantasy. Outside the prince’s bedchamber, the girl still showed her shy, introverted, cute and pure side, which was something Willem hated because that made everybody to love her, which wouldn’t be half bad if the guys around her would look at her in a more sister-like light instead of the passionate love they were unable to hide. However, what Willem loved, and didn’t share with anybody, is that Liz was a woman that could satisfy him all day long and night if he had wanted to. 

He still remembered the ecstasy feeling he felt when she said during their first climax that she loved him. Ever since then, she had made sure he knew it. 

One night at the end of winter, after a whole day of meetings with foreign ministers, which had made Willem skip all three meals with Liz, he had arrived at his quarters with a backache due to being seated all day long. When he entered into his bedchamber with a sigh and hopping to cuddle with Liz, he almost had his heart stopped at the sight he received. 

Liz had lit a lot of candles around the bedroom to warm it and she was lying in bed in a most seductive position completely naked. She was also smiling in a very inviting manner. And Willem didn’t have to ask twice. This time, she removed Willem’s clothes faster than he would have done so himself, and she playfully trailed a kiss path from his mouth to below his waist. She only had stopped for a few minutes at his chest and started licking and biting his nipples the same way he did with hers. Willem had let out a moan of sheer pleasure when she took his member and introduced it into her mouth. Her mouth attempted to cover his length, and Willem could feel her tongue playing around his member and the constant movement of her bobbing up and down had made him grab the sheets tightly and was taking an enormous effort to stop shouting to her how good it felt.

“Liz, I’m cumming!” he announced with a hoarse voice.

She didn’t seem to listen to him and she continued her ministrations until his seed was in her mouth. She coughed a little and then she crawled back to his face, she put her arms around his neck, sat on top of his abdomen and she kissed him gently. He could taste part of him in her mouth. He grabbed the back of her head and made the kiss deeper. 

“I’m sorry,” she apologized when their lips parted and placed the tip of her nose on his.  
“Why? That was incredible!” he said giving her a peck on the lips and embracing her wholly with his arms.   
“I know you must be tired,” she said caressing his hair. “I feel like I’m taking you up to myself when you should be resting.”  
“This is so much better than getting a nap,” he whispered in her ear and nipping her earlobe.

She let out a gasp and, as a reflex, she pushed her body against his. Willem realized that that was one of her arousing points. He started kissing and nipping her ear feeling how every time he did that her breast would touch his chest. To his surprise, she stopped him and cupped his face in her hands and kissed him deeply. His hands started to caress up and down her back. He loved to feel her smooth skin. He downed one of his hands and squeezed her rear. She bit her lip to stop herself of screaming from pleasure.

“You like that?” he asked teasingly.

For an answer she bit his shoulder, which sort of hurt, but in a good way. She kissed the part she just bit and he felt her lips curling into a smile. Suddenly, she felt his hands trailing from her rear to her entrance and starting playing with her clit.

“W-Willem, don’t… Ngh!” she exclaimed when she felt two fingers entering inside her.  
“It’s my turn now,” he whispered in her ear.

He was having his fingers thrusting in and out so fast that it didn’t take long to wet Willem’s hand with her juices. While trying to recover herself, Willem said:

“I need you to attend me,” he said.

She realized what he meant. His member was fully erect again. Smiling, she directed it to her entrance. Willem was about to start to apply a rhythm, but she stopped him. In a hushed voice, she seductively said:

“I’ll be doing everything today.”

With a final kiss she laced her fingers with his, and started going up and down. It was still a little hard for her, since his member was quite large, but Willem supported her weight whilst she continued and established a pace and soon enough even Willem had trouble holding up, so he wouldn’t finish quickly. She aroused him so much…

“Liz, I’m getting to my limit,” he warned her.  
“Just a little more,” she pleaded.

Willem was holding up until he could take it no more and at the same moment, her scream made him realized that they had arrived to climax together. She panted for a few seconds before she collapsed on top of him.

Liz was sleeping almost on top of him. Her arm was across his chest. He stayed lying awake, holding her close to her, feeling her naked body against his and caressing the length of her arm with the tip of his fingers. He had been giving some thoughts of their relationship. 

In Willem’s point of view, their souls and bodies always sought each other. Their souls had found each other that day at the spring, they just hadn’t realized it yet. They had confirmed it when they had kissed for the first time. They had finally entwined when their bodies had reached climax and completed their first physical act. From then on, something had awoken in Liz and she was more than ready to prove it to Willem. He had no complaints on his part. However, Willem had been pondering about something. Something much more profound than just having a good intimate and intense act with her.

“If you don’t sleep, you won’t be able to wake up in the morning,” she mumbled half asleep.

He didn’t answer. Liz opened her eyes and saw him so deep in thought, she doubted he heard her.

“Willem?”  
“Mmm?”  
“What is it?”

He glanced at her, and in his gaze, Liz could see all the love he reserved only for her.

“I love you,” he said.  
“I know.”  
“Be my princess.”

To his surprise, Liz pulled away a little from him. Her bewildered gaze was something that Willem didn’t like.

“What are you suggesting?”  
“Be my wife. Become the official princes and future queen,” he replied.

To his horror, Liz grabbed some sheets and, covering her body, she got up from bed.

“You’re joking, right?”  
“Why would I?” he asked trying to stop her from dressing up.  
“Because…! You can’t be serious!” she exclaimed.  
“Why?”  
“Willem, I’m not that naïve, you can’t marry someone like me… a commoner,” she said.

He was finally starting to comprehend. She was getting anxious out of fear.

“It’s true that it hasn’t been done before, but…”  
“Willem, listen to me,” she said sitting next to him still clutching the sheets on her chest. 

She softly kissed him and then she put her forehead against his chest.

“I made my peace with my situation,” she explained, “I know you can’t marry me, but the love I’ve got for you was more than I could bear,” she gulped. Tears were coming down her cheeks. “I know that you’ll have to marry a noblewoman… Who is going to be a good queen and you’re going to be an excellent king.”  
“You can be an excellent queen as well.”

She shook her head in disagreement.

“Like I said, I made my peace with it, which is why I decided to give myself to you for as long as you’re single and with no attachments. Despite people saying…” she interrupted herself.  
“What?”  
“Nothing,” she said shaking her head. “It’s not important.”  
“Tell me,” he demanded.

She sighed foreseeing his reaction.

“It’s nothing. It’s just… people in the Palace already know about you and me…” she started stammered. “Umm, Amelia mentioned that some people, men mostly, are commenting about me being… your personal courtesan, to put it nicely…”

Willem sat bolt upright with rage. 

“WHAT?!”

She sighed again.

“Willem…”  
“Who’s saying that?” demanded to know.  
“I don’t know and I don’t care…” she replied, but Willem could tell she did care.  
“Tell me.”  
“I told you, I don’t know…”  
“You’ve got an idea, though…”  
“Not me… Scarlet seemed to hear some soldiers making some bad jokes,” she uttered.  
“Soldiers?”  
“Yes, but Willem, that’s not important. I mean, what I wanted to say is that I don’t care as long as you and I are together for now…” 

She put her hand on his cheek in a loving gesture. He took her hand and kissed the palm of it. 

“I promise I’ll get to the bottom of this,” he declared. “And I’ll punish the ones spreading those horrible lies.”  
“Willem,” she said blushing at his gentle caress, “are they really that wrong?”  
“What do you mean?” he asked stunned at her question.  
“You and I are not married and yet… we have been together… am I not…?”  
“No, you’re not!” he interrupted her.

He grabbed both her arms, which made the sheet to fall so the upper part of her body was bared again. He then kissed the back of her hands.

“My sweet love, my precious treasure,” he said in a deep loving tone and with his thumb caressing her cheek, “how could you ever think that? You’re the only thing in my life right now that makes me want to get up in the mornings. Well, in some cases, it’s quite the opposite,” he joked and she giggled. “It pains me that you don’t know how important you are to me.”  
“I know that, but…”  
“No excuses,” he interrupted knowing what she was going to reply. “I don’t know how I’d live my life without you. When you were taken away to the clinic and I couldn’t see you, I realized that if I lost you, I would die with you. My life is now linked to yours.”

He kissed her deeply. His hands trailed the sides of her body delighting in the curvature of her body shape.

“Keep doing that and you and I won’t get any sleep tonight,” she teased him.  
“Fine by me,” he said.

* * *

Willem woke up the next morning and after having breakfast with his beloved one, he went to his office and as soon as he entered…

“Vain!”  
“Yes, Sire?” 

The guardian left his spot from the shadows and presented himself before the prince.

“I heard some disturbing rumor that’s been running around the soldiers, especially the men, and I want you to confirm it.”  
“What is it, Sire?” he asked, though he was starting to imagine what it was.  
“It’s been mentioned that Liz is called a whore,” he finally said.  
“Ah!” Vain said clicking his tongue, which he wished he hadn’t since that gave him away.  
“You knew?” he asked in bewilderment.  
“I… heard something of the sort. I made General Smith aware of the situation and he told me he was going to handle it.”  
“Not enough. I want those saying those lies out of the palace for good.”  
“Sire, if I may… I don’t think that’s a wise move.”  
“Oh?” said Willem narrowing his eyes and, getting closer to Vain, he growled, “And why is that?”

It was rare that Vain expressed his opinion to Willem’s orders. Whenever that happened, and this time it was no exception, the prince got closer to him in a threatening manner and in order to intimidate him and bully him to do whatever the prince wanted to do. However, this time, Liz’s reputation was in jeopardy and Vain wasn’t going to give in so easily. Despite his resolution, Vain glanced down to make Willem sure that he meant no disrespect.

“Sire, so far, nobody outside the castle knows about the relationship between you and Miss Liz… However, if you let those soldiers go outside the castle with a grudge against you, no one can guarantee that they may not speak ill about her. You are a prince and a male. No one expects you to be a celibate man, especially for your nature…” Willem understood that Vain meant about his Dragonkin nature, “But to her, things are different, society tends to be hard on women and even though you could be the one proposing and encouraging that union, they would still point fingers at her and they would have no problem in mudding her reputation.”  
“Tha—” 

Willem was about to say that that seemed ridiculous, but he shut his mouth a second later. He was taught that too. It didn’t feel right and it definitely wasn’t okay, since, like Vain pointed out, he was the one who sought that relationship. Liz had refused at first, and she was still struggling with it. She knew her position, and she wasn’t that delusional or naïve to know that it wouldn’t change easily. That’s why… 

“She rejected me…” he said out loud reality falling on him.  
“I’m sorry?” not understanding what the prince was talking about…  
“Last night, I asked her to marry me and to become the queen… but she said no.”  
“She’s a strong woman.”  
“She doesn’t deserve to be treated like that…”  
“I know, Sire. That’s why I asked General Smith to handle it. I know he’ll scold and give an appropriate punishment to those who spread those rumors…”  
“I’ll talk to him too to make sure he does, but there’s one thing I do not understand.”  
“What is it, My Prince?”  
“Liz is a lovely and charming woman, and she’s nice to everyone, I thought everybody liked her…” 

Vain was about to say, “We do”, but he refrained at the last second.

“She really is a good woman, Sire.”  
“So why would someone start that horrible lie?”

* * *

To be honest, Liz did know who had started the rumor, but she didn’t want to let Willem know that, or he would suffer much more than he had. She descended once more to the dungeons where they kept the prisoners. She arrived at a particular cellar that was hidden in the shadows; despite it was the middle of the day.

“Good morning,” she greeted. “I brought you some corn bread with butter and juice.”

She said taking out a bag from a pouch she always carried every time she wore her riding clothes.

“Thank you, Liz,” said a man grabbing the meals she was handing.

One of the men was a white guy with black hair and blue eyes. He looked no much younger than his partner, yet he had a mature aura around him; the other had a green hair and green eyes and a beautiful green earing on his right ear. The one who had grabbed the meal had been the black-haired man.

“No problem, Nox,” she replied.

She had seen him a long time ago in the forest, but Nox never met her, whilst the green-haired man was another case.

“Luca, may I speak with you?” 

The green-haired young man glanced at her. He stood up and then sat on the floor near the cellar bars. He crossed his arms and his face was sulking.

“What do you want?”  
“I heard that you two are going to be transferred back to Gedonelune,” she commented.  
“So? What’s up to you? What does the Crown Prince’s whore is worried about?”  
“Luca…” Liz sighed a little hurt.  
“Luca, enough!” reprimanded Nox. “Liz has been nothing but kind to us, despite that it was her who we truly hurt.”  
“If she hadn’t saved the prince’s life, then we would’ve succeeded in escaping since most of the guards would’ve been mourning him.”  
“I’m sorry, but like I said before, I don’t regret any of it. Neither saving Felix’s life, nor stopping you to become a murderer.”  
“I still can’t believe that you give yourself every night to the man responsible for your parent’s deaths and the burning of your town!” he exclaimed in a low voice full of ire, “Innocent people died! My family, your family and hundreds of other orphans’ families died!”

Tears started to well up in her eyes. Her lips trembled trying to repress her sobs.

“I said, enough!” exclaimed Nox a little too loud and giving him a punch.

The three of them jumped and remained still. Not daring to move a muscle. Their ears alerted so they would know if a guard was coming. A minute went by and they sighed in relief when no one came.

“I love him,” she admitted to Luca and Nox.  
“He’s just using you. He can’t marry you and he knows it. He’s using you to get some pleasure every night,” criticized Luca disdainfully.  
“He has asked me to marry him…”  
“What?!” the two men exclaimed surprised.

Again, they held their breaths to see if a guard had heard them.

“He’s not serious,” Luca said at last when they saw that no guard came over. He had a bewilderment expression.   
“I’ve got to agree with Luca, Liz. A commoner can’t marry a royal, especially someone whose blood directly ties him to the throne. Prince Willem will become the next king. Can’t you see that he only wants you to be nothing more than the woman who warms his bed until he’s tied to someone else due to his political connections? What will you do if he marries a noblewoman?”  
“I shall leave,” she curtly said.

That was unexpected for both of them. Her eyes showed that she was determined to end the relationship as soon as another woman appeared in the picture.

“And if you get pregnant with him?”  
“What’s up to you, Luca? Why are you suddenly so worried for me?”  
“Because he likes you,” noted Nox with a sly grin.  
“That’s enough, Nox,” warned Luca, but his cellar mate seemed no to listen.  
“He’s liked you since the beginning.”   
“Shut up.”  
“Luca you blame her for our capture, because when you realized she had taken the arrow instead of Prince Felix, you were in shock. You wanted to go to her side, but I stopped you and all the decisions you made that day were reckless since you couldn’t stop thinking of her.”  
“I said, shut up!”

Liz felt her cheeks burn at Nox’s revelation.

“I don’t blame Luca,” commented Nox. “You’re a beautiful, intelligent and kind woman, Liz. You deserve whatever you desire, since you’re the purest maiden I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. But I agree with Luca in one thing: I don’t think that nothing good can come of your involvement with the Twilight’s Royal Family.”  
“I… know that… but I can’t…”

Nox sighed. He knew she’d fallen so deep in love that the day when Prince Willem married with someone else, she wasn’t going to just leave Twilight, but he feared she would leave this world as well.

“Look, unlike Luca, I’m not going to pressure you to open your eyes and bail out before you get more involved than you already are. You’re not a child. But I hope that one day, when you feel lost, you find your way to Gedonelune and find us. We’ll take care of you, all right? It’ll be our way to repay you for your kindness during our prison time here. Even if we’re thrown into another cellar in Gedonelune, we have people that can take care of you.”  
“Thank you, Nox,” she said smiling. “Thank you, both.”  
“Whatever…” Luca replied rolling his eyes.  
“I have to go now, but I’ll keep in contact with you and —”  
“NO!”

And once again, they remained still, the only thing they could hear is the guys’ panting.

“Liz, we appreciate you to trying to maintain a contact with us…” Nox whispered after recovering from their shock.  
“We also know why you risk yourself for us, but… You can’t continue after we’ve been transferred. I mean, when you’ve no longer any contact with the royal family, then fine, look for us and we’ll do our best to take care of you, but if you keep in touch whilst being in bed with…”  
“Just stay away from us, all right?” interrupted Nox, “It’s for your own good.”   
“But…”  
“No buts, you just do what you’re told for once,” Luca said.

Liz remained silent. Since she finally realized they were worried about her safety, she nodded in agreement. They sighed in relief and they asked her to leave and never return.

“Oh, before you leave, we want you to know how sorry we are for calling you a whore,” apologized Nox.  
“It’s fine…”  
“No, it’s not. I didn’t know you, and Luca was just upset when we called you like that and started to discuss about you in front of the soldiers. We just… we just wanted to revenge somehow. Now I know who you are, and I’m truly sorry.”  
“Thank you, that means a lot…”

Nox smiled, and reaching out to her, he caressed her cheek. 

“If I had known you before… That Prince is some lucky bastard,” he sighed, “but you still cannot trust that your story will end up well. In that case you can count on me to ease that pain,” he winked.

Liz blushed. Lacan had said those words too.

She gave him a faint smile and left them in their solitary cell bidding a sad good-bye. She had been so shocked about Nox’s words that she wasn’t careful to leave the dungeons and, before she knew it, she bumped into the people she least wanted or needed to see her in that prison. At the threshold stood: the Prime Minister, General Smith and Captain Vincent with other four soldiers, whom she recognized as Rex, Gray, Augustus and Ted.

“I-I…” she started to stammer.

The Prime Minister glared at her in a way she felt he had never glared at her before. A chill ran up her spine at the sight of those eyes.

“Seize her,” he commanded with the coldest voice she had ever heard him.


	2. Chapter 2

“Seize her,” he commanded.

Liz’s heart leapt at the words of the Prime Minister. He could see that all her friends, including Vincent and General Smith had sorrowful eyes, whilst the soldiers obeyed the Minister’s order.

“Bring her to the interrogation room,” he said turning around.

Not putting resistance, Liz was led down into a spiral staircase and then to a circular cellar and, to Gray and Augustus dismay, they had to chain her. They put some shackles in her wrists. These gave her a still faint idea that she could move freely. The chain was long enough, and she could see that if wanted, someone might yank and lift her hands at her sides and above her head. She had to thank that right now she wasn’t being treated that rough. Maybe because she was a girl, or perhaps because she was Willem’s…

She closed her eyes. What was she? His lover? His whore? No! Not the last one. He had made that perfectly clear, at least to her… but she had no position besides being his lady-in-waiting. Their intimate relationship wasn’t public and the palace… The palace would never recognize her as a potential wife for the crown prince.

She started sobbing at the idea of that a small talk, an innocent talk, would be misinterpreted. She didn’t fear for her life, but she was worried of what Willem might think.

Half hour later, the door opened and Prime Minister Conrad, General Smith and Captain Vincent entered the chamber. Their steps echoed in the little cellar. For the first time, she felt vulnerability at its most.

“Miss Liz Hart, you were brought here under the charge of high treason to the Crown,” announced the Prime Minister.  
“Please, Sire! It’s not what you think,” she said.  
“Silence!”

She shut her mouth instantly. She always thought the Prime Minister was a little scary, and now she could see why.

“I shan’t hear any excuse. You were in the dungeons talking to the people responsible for the attempt of murder on Prince Felix,” he said coldly.  
“I stopped that! I stopped the arrow! I saved Felix! How could I be involved in that?”  
“Perhaps you had a change of heart? Maybe you feared out that my nephew would survive and see the culprits behind the attack? Or you just wanted to play the hero? Do not ask me to enter into the devious mind of a criminal.”  
“I’m not a criminal!” she said defensively.  
“Your background shows a history similar to Luca Orlem and Nox Noir, and the fact that you were alone with the Prince when he was attacked, and that you’ve become intimate with the crown prince…”  
“I —” 

There was nothing she could do to deny the accusations on her. They had a solid case. 

_This is what Luca and Nox tried to warn me about_ , she thought miserably.

“I have no choice but to either execute you or banish you,” he said.  
“What…?”  
“Due to General Smith and Captain Vincent, who both have pleaded for mercy, I decided to exile you from Twilight Kingdom.”  
“Please, Sire!” she cried out. “Let me explain, let me…”  
“To allow you to give me excuses?”  
“To tell you the truth!”

He let out a deep sigh.

“Very well…”

Liz told them about how she met Luca, but she never suspected him to be a potential enemy. And about the time when she went to visit her parents graves and Nox and Luca were there visiting the burnt towns. She told them that they were the ones who, inadvertently, gave her the information about the plague and the dead of her parents and village. And after she found out they were the culprits, she wanted to only paid them a visit to know their true motives because she was worried they could attack Felix again, or worse, that they might go after Willem or Lacan, but she had no reasons to hate them and instead felt sorry for them.

“Please, Sire. That’s the truth…”

Conrad stood there without speaking. Her voice and actions seemed sincere, but she was now involved with those two. Friends, acquaintances or strangers, it didn’t matter. She had made contact with two potential murderers and she was too close to the princes. All heirs to the throne; one of them more than the others.

“I’m sorry, Liz, but I’m unable to trust in you now. I shan’t risk my nephews safety. So I’ll send you away. It’s the best thing for all of us.”  
“Let me see Willem, at least one more time. Please!” she begged.  
“I can’t do that either. Not one of my nephews can see you, or chaos would fall in the family and the castle.”

Tears started to roll down her cheeks and she tried to run to the Prime Minister, but as soon as she was about to grab the hem of his robes, the chains didn’t allow her to go further and instead they were forcing her to retreat. 

“Please, I’m not a traitor! I… I beg you…!” she cried out.

Conrad had to admit he felt sorry for her. He really wanted to release her and give her a second chance. But after his sister-in-law’s murder… He couldn’t allow himself to consider that. He turned around and gave orders to keep an eye on her and to let absolutely no one to enter the chamber or get near her.

Vincent pursed his lips and clenched his fists at the sight of her fighting the shackles and crying and shouting over and over the word ‘Please!’. General Smith had a furrowed frown when he heard her too.

Before closing the door, outside of the spiral staircase, Vincent was about to call out the Prime Minister, but General Smith stopped him. Vincent glanced at him and he shook his head with his eyes closed. Once the Prime Minister was out of earshot, General Smith took Vincent to his office. 

“General, Sir, I —”  
“I know what you’re going to say, Captain, but we can’t do anything.”  
“But I know she’s innocent!”  
“How can you prove that?”  
“I —”

Vincent closed his mouth. No matter what, things didn’t look good for Liz.

“I believe her too, Captain,” declared Smith, “but if we can’t prove anything…”  
“Then let me tell Prince Willem! He’ll certainly do something!”  
“Don’t! The Prime Minister was very serious about this matter! His orders are absolute in the absence of the king.”  
“But…” he slammed his fist on the General’s desk, “It’s so frustrating not to be able to do anything!”

General pitied him. He knew that his Captain was one of the several men who had fallen deep for the girl. He cared for her as well, probably not in the same way as Vincent, but he knew Liz was a sweet, innocent girl, incapable of plotting a murder. But the Prime Minister wasn’t able to see it now. He only cared for the princes, and he wasn’t going to change his mind so easily.

Conrad asked for Vain, Hugo and Aaron to be called in front of him. As soon as he told them Liz had been imprisoned, they all had his eyes growing bigger and let out a loud gasp. Conrad had to calm them down and he explained to them the situation.

“But, Sire, if I may…” started saying Hugo.  
“No, Hugo, you may not,” he said sternly. He let out a heavy sigh, “I know what you’re going to say, but after the queen’s death, I cannot risk my nephew’s safety.”  
“But she’s not dangerous!” Aaron pointed out. “How many times had she been alone with the princes and they were perfectly fine?”  
“If something had happened to them, you’d be the first ones to blame. Isn’t that right Aaron?”

The third guardian kept silent. He had endured the trial and almost got expelled of his position if it hadn’t been for General Smith who had spoken well of his abilities and the fact that their enemy’s intelligence was much more insightful than the one they originally thought. Aaron had been left off the hook, but he had been warned that another mistake would make another one replace his position.

“Like I said before, I won’t risk my family’s safety, she’s a liability now.”

They all sighed in frustration.

“Sire, there’s something…” started to say Vain.  
“No more words,” he snapped. “I won’t hear anything else of this matter. My mind is resolute.”

Vain kept silent. He knew best not to make the Prime Minister angrier than he already was. He thought that maybe he’d try to talk to him in another occasion. 

“Now, I want to give all of you some instructions, and you must obey them. No exceptions, understood?” he said the last thing glancing at Vain. The guardian held his gaze for a moment until he lowered it and nodded his head. “Very well, Aaron and Hugo, you only job right now is to make sure, the princes don’t leave their private chambers. In order to do that, you’ll need to truly become their shadows. Therefore, I give you both my permission to enter their chambers and make sure they don’t have any contact with anybody. If they ask you, only comment there was a breach and you’re just being cautious.”  
“What if they ask us for Liz’s safety?” asked Aaron.  
“Tell them we’re taking care of everything, which indeed we are.”

They nodded with a grim face. Conrad dismissed them, but Vain remained behind.

“Vain, your case will be a little more… delicate.”  
“Yes, Sire,” he said with sad eyes.  
“You’ll have to lie to Willem for now. Make up something that could explain Liz’s absence for tonight.”  
“And if he wants to see her in her bedroom?”  
“Tell him that she went to the clinic.”  
“Sire… He’ll see right through it.”  
“That’s why as soon as he gets distracted…” The Prime Minister took out a small box and showed the content to Vain. It was a needle. “You’re injecting this to Willem. This will make him to sleep for two straight days.”  
“But, Sire…”  
“This is an order, Vain.”  
“You don’t think he’ll realize…?”  
“Of course he will. Willem’s not stupid. All I need is to keep him distracted and stay put long enough to make her go as far away from him as possible.”  
“Sire…”  
“No more words, Vain. I shan’t back down on this.”  
“The Prince will hate you for this… All of them, actually.”  
“I know,” he declared. “I’m preparing myself mentally for that.”

Conrad leaned over his desk, and the guardian couldn’t help to notice that he looked like a defeated man. Vain had trouble deciding who he pitied more at this moment: Prime Minister for this hard decision he was making and the consequences this will carry; Prince Willem for the deceiving and future suffering he’ll experience when he finds out his beloved one is gone; or poor Liz, who in her innocence got herself into a major trouble and no one could help her now.

* * *

Vain knocked on the door of the Prince’s private chambers. 

“Come in.”

The guardian entered to the little foyer, passed it and entered into the little sitting room. He found Willem lying on a camelback couch and reading. The man had acquired the habit of reading due to Liz’s influence. 

“Vain!” the prince exclaimed as soon as he saw the dark pink-haired man. “What brings you here?” asked confused.  
“I… I wanted to let you know, My Prince, that Liz…”  
“Did something happen?” he asked alarmed closing his book and getting up.

Vain had to use all his training to not to allow his emotions to betray him. 

“Yes, I mean… she just… I’ve been asked to inform you that she won’t be joining you tonight, Sire.”  
“Why?” he demanded alarmed.  
“She… fell from the horse in her riding lesson and she got injured, so someone took her to the clinic.”  
“What?! Why wasn’t I informed of this sooner?”  
“Sire…”  
“I’ll go to see her,” he said putting his book on the little coffee table he had there and passed next to Vain.

Just as soon as he was opening the door he felt a sting on his neck. He immediately felt his strength leaving his body and fell on his knees. He panted and grabbed his neck with his hand in the exact place where he had felt it hurt. He turned and saw Vain with a needle on his hand and gazing down on him with an apologetically look. 

“Why?” was the only question the prince could mouth.  
“Forgive me, Your Highness. I had no choice.”

The prince closed his eyes and Vain caught him before his body fell completely on the floor. 

“I’m so sorry,” said Vain with sorrow.

He dragged the prince to his bedchambers, and he put Willem on the bed.

* * *

In the middle of the night, Luca and Nox were put inside a wagon and their faces were in shock when they saw Liz brought to the cart, chained up as well, and gagged with a cloth to stop her from screaming Willem’s name.

“Liz!” they both exclaimed.

She glanced at them. They had never seen her looking so miserable. Rex, one of the soldiers in charge of escorting them, helped her inside the wagon. 

As soon as she was seated in front of Nox and Luca, the Prime Minister approached with Amelia close to him. 

“I’m sorry that things turned out this way,” he apologized. She stared at him, and he could see she kept imploring him. He gulped, she certainly had innocent eyes, “I made some arrangements so the people in Gedonelune will be aware of your especial case and treat you the best possible way. I have some of your things, and a little bit of money that you can use to start a new life there in the case that you’re not found in complicity with this group.”  
Luca was about to say something, but Nox kicked him, and whispered, “You’re going to make everything worse for her.”  
“However,” continued the Prime Minister, “I must inform you that tomorrow I’ll write my brother, so he can emit an edict announcing that you three are public enemies. So if you ever come back here, there will be no mercy on any of you.” 

At this last announcement, Liz started to cry. Conrad took the bulge Amelia was holding and gave it to Ted, the second soldier. Ted took it and he placed it on his lap.

The moment the cart started to move. Amelia started crying. Captain Vincent watched this with regret and feeling powerless. Aaron, Hugo and Vain from different balconies also followed the cart while it drove farther and farther away. The three of them were crying too for all that Liz represented in the princes’ past and future. It may have been only less than a year, but she was like a light for the princes and from now on…

* * *

As soon as they were out of the castle and the capital, Rex took off the cloth of her mouth. Liz kept crying despite that Ted also made her hands to move a little more freely. Ted suddenly remembered something and he handed Liz a beverage in a very small canteen. He claimed that it was a tea Captain Vincent had given before departing and it might calm her down. Liz sipped a few drops and as soon as he pulled the canteen away from her lips, she started to feel drowsy and sway a little. Rex, who was beside her, caught her and gently placed her on the seat.

“You drugged her?” asked Luca in astonishment.  
“Prime Minister’s orders,” he answered putting a blanket on her and caressing her hair gently. “But the General and Captain agreed with it. They told me she might be in distraught the whole time. Some sleep might help her a little. Nothing like the dreamland to sooth us when we need it most.”  
“Why is she here?”

Rex explained everything to them, which made them feel outrageous. They told him that none of the accusations were true. She just had been nice to them.

“I know. We all know. However, Prime Minister was resolute to believe she had become a liability and, therefore, she wasn’t allowed to be near any of the princes again.”

Luca’s rage was becoming more and more visible. 

“Luca…” warned Nox when he glanced at him.  
“You’ll never change! As soon as something becomes a problem, your first act is to get rid of it! You don’t deal with it, you don’t look for a second alternative! You just…!”  
“Luca that’s enough!” shouted Nox pushing the green-haired with his shoulder since they were both tied up. The he whispered to his ear, “Listen, I know you’re upset, I am too, but you’re going to make things worse for her, especially if they think she’s got a connection with us.”

That seemed to calm him down a little bit.

“I know you’re angry,” said Ted outside the carriage. He had been listening to the conversation too, “We are too, but right now we can’t do anything. We were sent with you guys to keep an eye on her. Not to be her personal jail man, but her guardian and to make sure where she is, so in the case her innocence is proven, then we can make arrangements for her comeback.”  
“You really believe she’s innocent…” said Nox realizing what the soldiers were saying.  
“We know she is,” commented Rex, “I think that even the Prime Minister believes it, but after the queen’s assassination and Prince Felix’s attempt of murder,” he said this looking directly at them in an accusatory manner, “a protocol was issued and all of us must follow it to the letter. We all think that the Prime Minister doesn’t want to take any risk.”  
“So your plan is to keep an eye on her until she can go back home?”  
“At least the General and the Captain made that plan,” mumbled Ted.

The next night, after an entire day of going on the road, they arrived at a dock and could see how a big ship was getting ready to sail away. Rex carried Liz in a princess like style and asked Ted to escort the other two men, Luca and Nox, into the ship. 

Rex took her to a small cabin, whilst the other two were led to a ward beneath the deck. As soon as Ted put her on the small bed, he could see a tear in her eye. He whipped it, though he had the feeling that the drug wasn’t doing a good job at calming her down.

He left her for a moment when he heard the bell marking the time and also the moment the ship was about to leave the docks. Just as Rex was closing the door, Liz was waking up from her slumber.

Rex met Ted just when he was about to walk down the gangway. 

“Luca and Nox?”  
“They’re okay. I took out their chains and left them in the wooden brig.”  
“Good. I’ll keep an eye on them as well.”  
“I’ll let the General and Captain know things went smoothly at least until this point.”  
“We hope that this continues,” Rex mentioned.  
“Keep an eye on Liz, all right?”  
“I will.”  
“But I hope you don’t forget what the General said,” warned Ted.  
“I won’t…” he said averting his gaze. 

Before leaving the palace, the two of them were lectured about taking care of Liz, but General Smith had made it clear to remember that they were just soldiers escorting the woman that Prince Willem, the future king, had fallen in love with. Therefore, she was off limits. No matter how far she was. Only if the prince ever lost interest in her, then a man could feel free to woo her, which, in the General’s opinion, was very unlikely.

The two men shook hands and Ted got off the ship, the gangway was pulled away and the ship detached from the harbor. 

Rex was seeing the figure of his friend getting smaller by the minute, so he didn’t realize that another figure was coming closer to the edge of the ship until she was right next to him. The soldier looked at her and he saw how she kept crying at seeing how she was being forced to leave everything behind. She wailed at this.

* * *

Willem jolted awake at that moment. He had the feeble sensation that Liz had screamed. He grabbed his face with his hand and realized that he was sweating, which was pretty odd since he, as a Dragonkin, he rarely, extremely rarely, was able to sweat unless his body decided to raise its temperature. His head hurt and he was having trouble focusing. What happened? Why was he in his bed? Was Liz preparing breakfast or whatever meal they were supposed to have?

“Liz?” he called.

No one came. Of course, he hadn’t had the energy to shout her name so she could hear him. The pain was reducing by the second, but he still felt a little weak. Grabbing the walls and furniture, he swayed his way to the door.

“Liz?” he called again a little louder this time.  
“Sire!”  
“Vain?”

His guardian was there, which to Willem was odd. 

“Don’t exert yourself. You’re still weak.”  
“Wh-What happened? Where’s Liz?”

The dark pink-haired man didn’t want to respond. 

“Vain, what —”

Suddenly he remembered. Vain had come to tell him Liz was hurt and then he…

“You drugged me?”

Vain gazed at him apologetically, but he never denied it. Then it dawned on him that his guardian was avoiding of talking about Liz.

“Where’s Liz?”  
“Sire… you need to go back to bed and rest until…”  
“I don’t bloody want to rest!” he bellowed. “I want to know where on earth my girlfriend is!”

It was the first time Vain heard the prince say the word ‘girlfriend’. He knew the prince never saw her as less than a potential wife, but still… he had never called her that in front of others.

“Sire…”

The rage he was feeling was making all the ailments he had felt a few moments ago to go away. He left his room so fast that Vain barely had time to react and to try to stop him. 

Willem went to her room and found the bed made neatly. He went to her wardrobe and, although a few of her belongings remained there, most of it was gone. What happened? Where was she? Had she fled away again? Or… did something happen? Vain had mentioned she got injured… Was she in a clinic? Or worse… was she dead?

“Your Highness?” a sweet voice called him from behind.  
“Amelia!”

He dashed over her and grabbed her by the shoulders. 

“Where’s Liz? Is she all right? What happened?” he asked shaking her.  
“She…”  
“Sire!”

Scarlett was there now. She walked to the prince and made him to let Amelia go.

“I was asked to inform you that the Prime Minister is waiting for you in his private chambers,” the female soldier told the prince with her hands on her back and in a sort of official manner.  
“My uncle?”  
“Yes, Sire. He shall inform you about Miss Liz whereabouts.”

Willem didn’t have to think it twice and left the room just as fast as he had entered.

“Do you think the Prime Minister will tell him everything?” asked Amelia to Scarlett hugging her.  
“Who knows? It’s difficult to know when it comes to the Prime Minister,” mentioned Scarlett, who hugged Amelia back and started to caress her hair in order to soothe her.  
“I miss her, Scarlett,” the orange-haired girl said.  
“I know, my love. We can only hope Rex will take care of her until she can come back.”  
“Do you think that might be possible? Can she come back?” she asked the female soldier, gazing up at her with hope in her eyes.  
“Let’s hope for the best, shall we?” said Scarlett caressing Amelia’s cheek.

She leaned over Amelia and gently kissed her to make her feel assured and to comfort her. But a moment later, Amelia opened up her mouth a little and Scarlett deepened the kiss. After pulling apart from her girlfriend, the orange-haired girl smiled and embraced her tightly, though they had all lost a friend, a glimmer of hope remained that she would return, guiltiness cleared. With Scarlett by her side, anything seemed possible.


	3. Chapter 3

Willem entered the private chambers that belonged to his uncle without bothering to knock. 

“Willem!”

His uncle was surprised to see him up and so well, especially when he thought that when he called Willem, he would be still struggling with the side effects. Hardly did he know that the adrenaline was making him move so fast that he wasn’t noticing the subsequent effects of the drug, like the sluggishness he was supposed to be feeling.

“Where is Liz?!”  
“Willem, you should rest,” said his uncle getting closer to him to inspect him.

There was concern in his voice, but the prince couldn’t care less. He was getting tired that every time he asked that question, Liz didn’t show up right beside him to calm him down as she usually did. And the worst was that no one was willing to give him a straight answer to his question.

The prince grabbed his uncle by the collar and then he pinned him to a wall with such a strength that it was a miracle that it didn’t crack.

“Nngh!” his uncle exclaimed at the feeling of being hit and the air getting out of his chest.  
“I asked you a question,” the Dragonkin snarled.  
“Willem…” gasped the man.

Three men grabbed Willem from the arms and some arms surrounded his chest and forced him to let the Prime Minister go and made him to retreat a little. He saw that those three men were Vain, Hugo and Aaron.

“Willem!” cried his brothers in unison and running towards him.  
“I’m actually surprised to see you with such strength,” coughed the Prime Minister.  
“Are you all right?” asked Felix to his uncle inspecting him.  
“I’m fine, thank you,” his uncle smiled at him.  
“Let go off me!” ordered Willem with a tug and the three guardian stepped back. “Uncle, as your future king, I’m ordering you to give me a straight answer, where’s Liz?”

His uncle still remained in silence.

“Liz?” asked Lacan.  
“Wasn’t she with you?” asked Felix.  
“Hell, no! I woke up just now and ever since I’ve been calling her, neither she’s come by my side nor has anyone been able to tell me where she is.”   
“Then where is she?”  
“Uncle, what’s going on?” asked Lacan.

The Prime Minister gazed at his nephews with sorrow in his eyes.

“Sire…” Vain said stepping in, “I think it’s time.”

Conrad closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

“Liz’s gone.”  
“WHAT?!” bellowed the three princes.  
“We discovered her sneaking down to the dungeons to talk to the culprits behind Felix’s attack,” announced Conrad.  
“Impossible!” exclaimed Felix.  
“You lie!” shouted Willem.  
“No, I am not. If I hadn’t seen her with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it myself,” shouted back. “But I did, and I had no choice…”  
“No choice?” asked Willem trying to grab his uncle again, but the guardians stopped him before he could touch the Prime Minister. “No choice?! You could have told me! We could have had a closed trial! Make her say her statement! Find her innocent! I know she is innocent!”  
“I think so too!” said Felix.  
“Me, too,” said Lacan.

He knew their nephews, so he was ready for those responses.

“Liz involvement with you, Willem, or with your brothers, made it impossible to perceive her innocence. She could have been pretending, her background is the same as the ones captured, so she became more and more…”  
“Her background?” interrupted Willem.  
“What background?” asked Lacan.

Willem and Felix looked at his brother. He was the only one who didn’t know about Liz’s parents and her town.

“Liz and the other two that were captured come from towns that we burnt down,” explained Conrad to the second prince.  
“But she isn’t a murderer!” shouted Willem, “In fact as soon as she found out what we did, she tried to flee! She tried to leave my side and have nothing to do with us, with me!”  
“What?” asked Conrad.  
“I tried to explain it to you, Sire…” Vain apologized to the Prime Minister. Willem only glared at him with something close to hatred or disgust, but the guardian continued. “She escaped one day. The day after she found out of what the Royal Family did, but I — under Prince Willem’s order — made her return. She wanted to leave, but she stayed…”  
“I asked her to stay, too,” commented Felix. “Uncle, when I was attacked, I was talking to her. She wanted to leave, she told me she couldn’t bear to be in the same place with those responsible for her parent’s and all those people’s death. However, I told her not to rush things and to hear our version. Just the moment she had come to terms of staying… the attack happened.”

Willem gulped. He felt guiltier than ever. Felix had never told him what they discussed. He had been very secretive about the matter and Liz only told him that Felix explained “it” to her, but she failed to mention that he made her stay and to be more open to the possibility that they did what they thought was best.

The youngest prince, however, never wanted to talk about their conversation for other different reasons. One of them was because he felt guilty with himself.

“She was injured because of me,” he said feeling a lump on his throat. “I never stopped thinking that perhaps if I hadn’t stopped her… If I had let her go, her life wouldn’t have been threatened.”

He was shaking now. Willem embraced his little brother, which at first shocked the youngest prince.

“It was because of you that she wholeheartedly accepted me,” he said shaking as well, “I must thank you for that.”

Now Felix embraced his brother as well and cried in his chest.

For the first time since the incident, Conrad was afraid he had made a mistake. If Liz had been able to do what the King or him hadn’t been able to do in so many years… Have Willem to be responsible of his role as prince, Felix to be much more polite with people around him, the three princes to have some sort of reconciliation after their mother’s death. All of that was due to her influence…

“I’ll bring her back,” declared the Prime Minister at last.

Willem turned around to see his uncle. Felix was still clinging to him. Lacan, who had tears in his eyes at the reconciliation of his brothers, stepped forward.

“Where is she, Uncle?”  
“I sent her to Gedonelune.”  
“Gedonelune?!” asked the three princes.  
“That far?” asked Lacan.  
“The ship must have already left, but I can send word that she may return on the same ship.”  
“Please, Uncle, do that,” said Lacan.  
“Very well…”

They all left the private chambers except for one person.

“Sire, I’m sorry,” said Vain.  
“So am I, Vain. If I had let you explain…”  
“I really tried to tell you…”  
“Sorry, my judgment was hazed by the possibility of…”  
“I know, Sire.”  
“Keep a close eye on Willem, all right?”   
“Yes, Sire.”

He was about to leave, when the door opened and Willem entered again unannounced. 

“I’ve got to tell you, Uncle. I shall have another shadow by tomorrow.”  
“What?”  
“It’s clear that Vain is more loyal to you than he is to me,” said Willem acidly.  
“My Prince…”

But the Crown Prince didn’t deign to glare at him again.

“Willem, Vain obeyed my orders because, I must remind you that in the absence of your father and the fact that you’re still not sitting on the throne, it makes me the person whose orders are absolute,” the Prime Minister reminded him.  
“Whatever the case, I cannot trust Vain anymore and, even if I did, I’m so mad at the both of you right now, that I might be restless until Liz is back.”  
“Vain, do you want to leave?” asked the Prime Minister. “I need to talk to my nephew.”

It was the first time he was asked for his opinion in these kind of matters. The guardian sighed. He knew he’d have to deal with the prince’s rage when he found out his treasure was taken away. He knew it, yet he didn’t expect that drastic come out. He wanted to be there to know what to do next.

“If it’s okay, Sire,” he shook his head, “I wish to stay and hear this. I shan’t speak however, so you can carry on pretending I’m not here.”

Conrad didn’t like this last remark, but it made things easier knowing he was adopting his role as shadow. He decided to pretend Vain wasn’t there either.

“Willem, what’s going on?” inquired Conrad a little concern.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Well, I understand that you’re mad at me. I mean, after all, it’s me who sent her away and all, but… This is not the first time you lose your head over something that concerns her. I didn’t know about her attempt of fleeing the castle. Believe me, if I had, maybe, and just maybe, I would’ve handled things differently.”

The prince averted his gaze. He was so mad that his rational mind was a mess, yet he really wondered if he should trust his uncle…

“Tell me.”

He hated when he said those words with that tone. It was an order, but not one of those that he had to obey unconditionally. It was less aggressive than a command and a little more demanding than a pleading. It had a weird effect on the prince because Willem had the feeling that it left him against the wall: if he said anything, he would hate himself for not trusting his better judgment and keep quiet; but, if he didn’t, then he would feel bad for not respecting his uncle or for not trusting him in the first place.

His uncle knew this, so that’s why he was using it, but the more time Willem remained silent, the more he feared he wasn’t going to answer. He sighed.

“Willem, please, I’m not your enemy. Although it might not seem it to you at the moment, I care for you and your brothers. I told you this a million times. When will you start to trust me?”  
“When you stop treating me like a child,” answered Willem.  
“Then stop acting like a spoiled brat!”  
“Stop doing things behind my back then,” rebuked the Prince.

They both fell silent for a moment.

“All right. I admit I didn’t handle things well, but that’s no reason…”  
“I asked her to marry me,” he finally said. “I know now that I didn’t handle things well either. I just… I love her uncle. I truly love her. It’s not infatuation or anything of the sort… I love her so much that I…”  
“You what?”  
“I’m not sure if I can’t live without her. I need her by my side. I want to be her husband even if it means to give up my title. But…”  
“But what?”  
“She rejected me. She loves me, but she rejected me. I couldn’t understand why until…” then he glared to his guardian now. The dark pink-haired man, just nodded to encourage the prince to continue, “Vain showed me that she was afraid that she wasn’t meant to be a queen because she’s a commoner. That every nobleman or woman would oppose to our union…”  
“Well…”  
“Don’t deny it. I know you would. But she never wanted me to give up the throne. That’s why she never said anything about leaving my side. So I made up in my mind that after I became king…”  
“You would change the law and see it fit for her to marry you,” finished Conrad reading his nephew like a book.

Willem nodded.

“I had no idea,” said Conrad.  
“Uncle, I cannot live without her. I mean I could, but it’s like I can’t see the meaning behind it. Life doesn’t make sense without her.”  
“Willem…”  
“I know what you’re going to say, that I have done well so far without her, but you don’t know. The moment I saw her, everything felt right. I knew who I was and what I wanted for her and for me. I wanted to protect her and to be with her for the rest of my life.”  
“But you’re a Dragonkin! You can’t expect…”  
“Half Dragonkin,” reminded him.  
“Nevertheless, a Dragonkin.”  
“And do you remember our sacred law? As soon as we find our mate and the ritual becomes complete…”  
“The mate shall share the lifetime…” he finally realized something.

Conrad understood. It’s the reason why his older brother looked even younger than him. Why despite his age, he still had so many years to live. Dragonkins were once powerful creatures. Eventually, their powers diminished and no longer had the magical abilities they once had. It seemed their power diminished when they shared it with humans. And there were also few Dragonkins that mated with humans. When a Dragonkin found their Soul Mate, they really mated for life, and the human gained youth and a much more extensive life span than he normally would have had.

So far, Dragonkins had found their Soul Mates in people from the nobility. Willem was the first to find it outside of this circle. But if what he was describing was true, then…

“She’s your mate. Your Soul Mate.”

The prince nodded in silence.

“I think so as well.”  
“When did you…?”  
“Last night?” he said trying to remember. “No, wait. Thanks to your plan, I believe it was the previous night before you sent her away.”  
“Willem, if I had known…”  
“It wouldn’t have changed anything, Uncle.”  
“Yes, it would! I’m not that heartless to deny my nephew the possibility of finding happiness with his true love.”

The prince felt his cheeks flushed. It wasn’t the first time he felt his Uncle loved him more than anything in the world.

“Uncle, please… Just bring her back.”  
“I promise, I shall do everything in my power to do so.”  
“Good.”  
“About Vain, Willem, you need to realize he was just following upper orders. He tried to warn me, to reason with me, but I was just so scared of the possibility of losing any of you that I didn’t listen to him. He didn’t want to do it. I made him do it.”  
“Still…”  
“Willem, listen. He appreciates you and he’s done a good job protecting you. Give him a chance.”  
“I can’t…”  
“Willem, please…”

Willem couldn’t help to remember that he indeed had been an excellent guardian and that he had brought her back when she had managed to leave the palace unnoticed.

“Very well, but I really don’t want to see his face right now,” he said turning around and leaving the office.

Conrad sighed. Definitely not what he wanted to hear, yet it was better than anything. Conrad nodded to Vain with a tender smile. The guardian nodded back and disappeared in the shadows.

What his nephew had told him was… How could he not see it? The way Willem looked at her was beyond love. The way he was obsessed with her, the way he always kept an eye on her… Willem and his brothers may be far related to dragons, but they still had a few features besides the horns and tails. Willem was as melancholic and furious as a dragon that just awoke to find his treasure stolen from him. 

He went to his desk and started to write a letter, although he wasn’t sure if the letter would arrive on time, he was certain that at some point it would reach Second Lieutenant Rex.

* * *

Liz was again with no appetite. No matter how much food Rex brought to her, the trays always were rarely touched and they returned to the kitchens just as full as they left them. 

“Liz, you’ve got to eat something,” reminded Rex to her.  
“I’m not hungry,” she said from her bed.

Rex heard her sobbing although there were no tears in her eyes. Maybe she had cried all her tears and she had no more to shed.

“Look, I’ll try to make a good case for you, so you’re not trialed and perhaps I can arrange for you to have your own place and a job…”  
“Could you please let me sleep for a moment? I’m so tired…”  
“You’re tired because you don’t eat.”

She didn’t answer to this. 

“All right. I’ll let you sleep, okay?” he said caressing her hair gently, the way a brother or a friend would do to console his sister. “But please, promise me you’ll eat something as soon as you wake up, okay?”

Again, she didn’t answer.

“Liz?”  
“Okay.”  
“Okay, what?”  
“I promise.”

He patted her head and left the room with her tray to change it to a new one.

Liz closed her eyes. She really wanted to be left alone. Months ago, she was willing to leave Willem’s side in anger and resentment consuming her despite her love to the Prince. Now, she was forced to leave him, and her love for him now was consuming her in agony. She knew he would hate to see her starving herself, but she really couldn’t eat when she was feeling depressed or anxious, and now she was feeling both. At some point she started to doze off again…

The sound of an explosion and a sudden shake woke her up with a startle. She sat in her bed listening to the sounds outside. She distinguished some yelling, then the sound of a canyon being fired made her stand up. She got out of her cabin and then she saw a lot of men and women running to different directions. 

“Liz!”

Rex called out to her and reaching her side, he grabbed her elbow and pulled her so she had no choice but to run alongside him. 

“What’s wrong?”  
“There was an explosion in one of the boilers and now we have to move fast to one of the lifeboats, since this thing is burning and sinking fast.”  
“Wait!” She yanked away her arm. “What about Luca and Nox?”

Rex had been so worried for her, he forgot about them.

“Damn! I need to get them.”

He seemed to be pondering for a minute. He didn’t want to leave her side, but he couldn’t risk her life either. If he asked her to accompany him, there was no guarantee that something might go wrong and she could get injured. He reached a conclusion.

“Okay, I’ll go fetch them, but you have to get into one of the boats and leave as soon as possible. If I can, I’ll catch the same boat, but in the event we don’t meet in the boat or rescuing ship, then wait for me at the harbor in whatever kingdom we arrive. All right?”

She nodded. He could see fear in her eyes, but at the same time a great resolution and bravery. Rex could see why men felt attracted to her. He smiled at her and then went to help Luca and Nox.

Liz turned around and started to run, but just around a corner, a boy who seemed to be asking for help caught her attention.

“Miss, please, I need some help!” he implored.

She hesitated for just a second, but then she asked.

“What is it?”  
“My grandma. When the ship shook, the bed leaned over her and now is crushing her.”  
“Let’s hurry!”

She followed the boy and then she saw the woman being crushed only in the legs, which was terrible, but she felt some sort of relief since she wouldn’t have to try to lift the bed that much, only the sufficient for the boy to take her grandmother out of it. She gave the boy the instructions and then she did her best effort to lift the bed. It was hard since she was weak, but somehow she felt the adrenaline to take over when she was reminded that a life was on the line. They both successfully rescued the woman and helped her to her feet and to walk.

When they were at one of the corridors, one of the ropes near them got loose and almost hit them, but at the last moment Liz pushed the boy and the woman aside. She was hit and lost her balance and fell over the board. The boy tried to help her, but his grandma required his attention. He tried to make the crew men to know that the girl who kindly helped him had fallen, but no one seemed to listen to him or his grandma. One member saw them but far from listening, in his panic, he just pushed them to the nearest lifeboat.

Liz got out of the water, but the moment that rope struck her, it was like her adrenaline left her and now she was even having trouble to swim. She managed to reach the surface and gasped for air.

She saw with horror that Rex had been right in being in panic. The ship was burning and sinking really fast. Unfortunately, she seemed to have fallen in a blind spot for the lifeboats because she could see none around. She decided to swim as far as possible from the ship so nothing would hurt her in case of more fallen debris. She thought that maybe once the ship sank completely, she’d swim to one of the lifeboats or make any sign to them. However, when the ship finally sank, she looked around, but she didn’t see any lifeboat around. She saw one of the wooden debris near her and went to it. She checked if it could support her weight and when she saw it could, she got on it.

Once on the debris, she started to shout and attempted to swim, but at the last second, she paralyzed. Where to? She didn’t see any light and she got afraid that the direction she decided to swim would be the wrong direction. Not having any more options, she decided to curl up on the debris.

“I hope Rex and the others are okay,” she sighed very tired.

She felt tired and cold. She curled up in a fetal position hugging herself, fearing that she would die there, in the middle of the ocean and alone. 

“Willem…” she sighed and a tear rolled down her cheek.

* * *

A ship picked them up. It was a ship that had received their help message. Rex, Luca and Nox successfully got on the last boat before the ship sank. And once they were safely on the ship, Rex started to look out for Liz, but to his dismay he couldn’t see her anywhere. He asked Luca and Nox to help him find her, which they agreed, but had no success. Nox opinioned that probably another ship might have found one or two boats that might had gotten astray. 

However, as soon as they reached Gedonelune Kingdom’s harbor. Rex got worried. First, Luca and Nox were arrested again, although Rex told them that he was going to talk in their favor. When he went to check with the harbor managers about another ship that had rescued other boats, the manager told him that no other ship had helped the one that sank. 

Rex was leaving the office when a letter was handed to him. He opened it and he felt the color of his face draining. The Prime Minister had sent him a letter asking him to bring Liz back to Twilight Kingdom as soon as possible.

With grieve in his heart and fearing the wrath of the entire Royal Family, he went back to the inn he was staying and gave them the terrible news that Liz was either missing or, worse case, yet much more possible scenario… dead.

* * *

Willem took his hand to his chest and started panting all of the sudden. He felt like he had been walking with a straight and peaceful pace and just at the last second he had realized that he was on the edge of a cliff, and a sudden fear of falling had possessed him. Lacan and Felix, who were with him at that moment saw this and went to his aid.

“What is it?” asked Felix.  
“What happened?” asked Lacan.  
“I don’t know. I just… I feel like I need some air,” he said taking off his cloak and belt and unbuttoning the upper part of his robe.  
“Looks like you’re having a panic attack,” diagnosed Felix whilst he examined him.

Willem turned around and without saying good-night to his brothers, he left the room and went to his private chambers.

He started pacing the living room to try to calm himself down. He didn’t want to think too much into it, but he was fearing that something awful might have happened to her. 

“No, I can’t think like that!” he said to himself.

He remembered something and then he went to his bedroom. There, he took out of a drawer a night robe. Her night robe, the one she wore the last night they were together. He clutched it tightly and smelled it. It still had her aroma.

He remembered how he teasingly had told her to keep it in his drawer. At first, she had refused because she didn’t want to give away the fact they were sleeping together to the maids, but Willem had told her to put it at the bottom of the drawer if that was what really bothered her.

Now he was glad she had listened to him.

He went to bed still clutching her robe and, despite himself, he dozed off hoping that in no more than a couple of days, he would be holding her in his arms instead of her clothes.

“Liz…”


	4. Chapter 4

She woke up, and to her surprise, she saw that she was on a makeshift bed in a new cabin. Her clothes had been changed and she was wearing now foreign clothes resembling a colorful robe.

“I see you’re awake.”

She turned to gaze a man that approached her. He was tall and skinny, had long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and blue eyes. He was also wearing a colorful robe.

“I’m glad you’re fine,” he said. “The injury in your head seems to be healing as well.”

He handed her a tray with a bowl of rice and a cup of water. 

“Sorry I don’t have more to offer, but we’re saving our meals since the landing is still a little bit far.”  
“This is fine, thank you,” she said eating what he offered. He smiled at her.  
“Where am I? Who are you?” she asked after giving two bites to the rice.  
“I’m sorry for not introducing myself before,” he said bowing a little. “My name is Hisoka and I’m a merchant. You’re currently in the ship that I recently bought to transport all the goods I buy and sell. My men saw you floating on the water. That’s how we rescued you.”  
“I am Liz,” she said bowing her head a little. If she had been standing, she would’ve made a small curtsy, but she could barely be seated at the moment.  
“How did you end up in the water, Liz?”

She told him about the ship’s sinking and mostly the last things that happened before she lost consciousness. She didn’t want to share why she had been in that ship in the first place or she thought he might think poorly of her.

“So where is your ship going?” she asked.  
“We’re going to the Nighttime Kingdom.”

Liz's face lost color. The Nighttime Kingdom was a kingdom that was very far away from Twilight Kingdom, even farther than Gedonelune. But then again she remembered she had been banished from Twilight and wondered for a moment if this wasn’t Heaven’s way telling her to stay away from Willem. It wasn’t the first time she thought that probably the distance would make her forget the prince…

* * *

After two months on the sea, they arrived at the docks in the Nighttime Kingdom. During that time on the ship, Liz got herself busy and earned her food supplies by helping out in the kitchens. Hisoka was thrilled to see how skillful she was with any work he gave her, although he didn’t want to load her with too much work. They both talked a little, but Hisoka soon realized she had some issues when it came to certain topics. He learned that she was an orphan and her parents had died when she was younger. He also learned that she enjoyed hard work, and reading, and that she loved animals because he once saw her feeding to some rats. And one of the odd things about her was that unlike other women, she hated to be treated like a lady, at least as noblewoman. 

When one of the sailors spotted the mainland, Liz was amazed to see a city lit with different color lights, since they arrived at night.

“Actually, this kingdom rarely sees sunlight. The clouds normally block the sun, so even during the day it might look dark or with a dim light,” explained Hisoka whilst they were downloading some of the merchandise.  
“You know too much about this kingdom,” observed Liz helping him.  
“Well, I certainly must. This is one of my main selling spots,” he chuckled. “In fact, Liz, if you don’t have a place to stay… Would you like to be part of my staff?”  
“You mean to travel with you?” she asked a little wary. She certainly had seen her fair share of the ocean. Hisoka laughed.  
“Of course not! I wouldn’t treat a lady like you to other rough weeks like those, “ he winked at her when she pouted. “Actually, my business is going so well that I’m expanding my shop, and I planned on turning a part of it into a Tea House?”  
“A Tea House?”   
“A place where people can relax, drink tea, order some sweets or bakery, and talk with friends as well as buy things in the shop.”  
“That sounds wonderful!”  
“Doesn’t it? Well, perhaps you could help in the cooking or serving station.”  
“I would love to!”  
“Then it’s settled then. Let me show where the shop is!”

Hisoka led her to a street full of other shops. There was a flower shop, a candy shop, a book store (she made a mental note on that one) and a market.

“There it is!” he announced.

Liz saw a shop that, although it was little, it still got some charm, and it looked well-cared. At that moment, a man got outside of the shop and he started to write on the board that was on the street outside the shop. They got closer and Liz could see he was a tall man with fair skin, grey eyes and a dark brown hair that he had combed to look like spikes. 

“Hello, Zett,” greeted Hisoka. “How is it going?”  
“Welcome back, Master Hisoka!” greeted Zett back. “Not so bad, but I think we could make it better. We certainly need some help to attend the costumers.”  
“Well, it’s a good thing, then,” he said nudging Liz to step forward. “This is Liz, and she has agreed to come to help you guys with the shop.”  
“Nice to meet you,” Zett said stretching his arm.  
“Nice to meet you as well,” she said politely and shaking his hand.  
“What a lovely lady,” said someone behind Zett.

The man had beautiful peach color hair and green eyes. He was a little taller than Zett and his outfit was even more… appropriate for a working person, if you could say it like that.

“Hello, Caesar. Meet our new employee,” greeted Hisoka with a smile, and then he said to Liz, “Caesar is my shop manager here.”  
“Really?”  
“Really.”  
“I don’t look the part, do I?” asked Caesar quite amused at the girl’s reaction.  
“Not at all! I just thought you look so young to be handling this.”  
“Meaning that I look too old to you,” sighed Hisoka with a drama flare.   
“That’s not what I meant!” she quickly turned to Hisoka.

The three men started laughing and then she laughed as well. When they saw her smile and laugh, they just got awestruck. She had this charming laugh and beautiful smile that made them feel their problems could be easily resolved. In fact, Caesar and Zett had been arguing a little for the past days, but seeing her smile and hearing her laugh felt just… right. Like they could live to see that smile forever.

Hisoka felt it too and wondered where did that power come from. He had felt an immediate attraction to her and he was certain that many of his crew members had it too. And now that he saw Caesar and Zett had started to be swept away, he started to believe that Liz was much more special than she had let known.

To commemorate that Liz was becoming part of their family/business, as Hisoka mentioned, the merchant decided to treat his staff to a lunch. 

“Where’s Nagisa?” asked Hisoka.  
“He said he was going to come later,” answered Caesar. “I gave him the day off. I think it’s his parent’s death anniversary.”

Liz couldn’t help to feel sorry for this Nagisa person too. After all, she knew what it felt and she couldn’t help to feel sad imagining that she probably wouldn’t be able to go to pay respect to her parents’ graves ever again.

“Remind me to talk to him later,” commented Hisoka a little sad. “I wish to give him something to cheer him up.”

They went to a place where they sold Hinomotan food. Hisoka helped Liz to try new dishes to see which one liked the best. However, Liz only really sampled the dishes and most of the food was devoured by Zett and Caesar.

“By the way, Caesar, is our Prime Customer still a regular?” Hisoka asked.  
“He is,” replied the manager. “Actually he came by last week to ask for his usual. He seems to be using a lot of that, so I’ll have to ask you more stationary supplies.”

Whoever they were talking about, Liz had the idea that he must have been important. Liz had been in Castle in the Sky long enough to know when people talked in code. She also knew it was best not to ask.

“Sorry, Liz, we forgot you’re new here,” apologized Hisoka.  
“No need to apologize. I understand that you want to keep certain secrets.”  
“It’s not that. On the contrary, everybody must know what we talk about since it gives the business a good publicity.”  
“What does?”  
“It’s Prince Lucious Duller. He’s our regular costumer. He comes by the shop at least twice a week.”  
“The only times we don’t see him are normally due to balls or diplomatic visits,” Zett pointed out.  
“Diplomatic visits? You mean when dignitaries from other countries come here?”  
“Of course.”

Liz hopes got really high. Maybe she could send a letter to Willem telling him that she was fine, trying to explain what had happened, why she had gone to see Luca and Nox. She hoped he was understanding, and maybe, just maybe, he could see something to be done for her. Perhaps return to the kingdom, even if it meant not to return to the Palace per se.

They returned to the shop. Hisoka showed her around, the supplies, the teas and sweets they sold. Hisoka introduced her to the chef in charge of the sweets that she was going to serve. Nagisa turned out to be a beautiful man. He was Hinomotan as well as Hisoka. However, unlike Hisoka, Caesar and Zett, it was very clear that Nagisa, like Liz, liked men. They made an instant click.

Then, Hisoka showed her to her room. There were some little flats above the shop and Caesar, Nagisa and Zett slept there. Caesar and Zett shared one; and Nagisa and Liz would share the other one. Hisoka apologized for not giving her a place just for her, but Liz told him that she felt secure and liked Nagisa, and she hoped they could become friends. Nagisa launched over her and told her they were going to be even more than best friends, that they were going to be sisters.

* * *

A couple of days after her arrival at the Tea House, a young man walked into the store. He had purple hair and golden eyes. He had the nobility flare that royal people seemed to be born with it. With no introductions needed, Liz immediately knew he was Prince Lucious.

“Welcome, how may I help you?” she greeted him.  
“Who are you?” he asked immediately.

Liz repressed a sigh and a giggle. It seemed like Lucious was just like Felix.

“I’m Liz, the new employee, Sire. It’s very nice to meet you,” she said giving a small curtsy.  
“Business must be going well if they could afford to bring a new staff member.”  
“And a pretty one too,” commented Caesar with a smile, which made the girl blush.  
“You’re not from here,” Lucious observed.  
“How could you tell?”  
“Because of your skin. It’s white, but not as white as us. We have our skins this pale because we rarely see the sun.”

It made sense.

“Where are you from?”  
“I come from a little village called Reitz at the outskirts of Twilight Kingdom’s capital.”  
“Twilight Kingdom? That’s really far from here,” he uttered in bewilderment.   
“Have you been there, Your Highness?”  
“Only once when I was younger. I went there to pay respects for the death of the Queen. I became friends with people there.”  
“The princes?” she asked hopefully.  
“Hell, no! Those three were still mourning and the eldest one was the coldest person I’ve ever known. I could see that, when we were introduced, he didn’t care who he was greeting at all.”  
“I told you to leave him be,” commented Caesar. “He wasn’t feeling well and you needed to give him time to grieve. Besides, you were practically a baby?”  
“Who are you calling a baby?”   
“You were a toddler back then, Lucious!” snapped Caesar. “But you seem cursed with a heck of a memory…”  
“You were there, too, Caesar?” Liz asked.  
“I guess you’d find out eventually, but actually I’m the last descendant of the Baroques so I was asked to babysit Lucious,” he said.  
“You are aristocracy?!”  
“Not anymore, but back in my royal days I was Lucious’ playmate. We became friends eventually, although it took time,” he smiled at the reminiscing of the old days. He ruffled Lucious’ head, which the prince hated.  
“Stop it! Nonetheless, a few years ago he renounced his title and adopted a new family name and lifestyle.”

She understood now why the prince came to the shop at least twice a week. He must be missing his best friend in the palace.

“Thanks to Lucious people of all kinds come to the shop. Nobility and commoners alike,” stated Zett when the prince decided it was time to leave and Caesar told him he was going to accompany halfway to the Palace.  
“I see…”  
“Though I prefer commoners,” remarked Nagisa, “Caesar has made me realize that many of the aristocrats are not that different from us, but there are a few who are very obnoxious. I hate those kind of people, because they don’t come for the food or the shop, but because Prince Lucious has been here.”  
“We don’t really like them,” mentioned Zett, “but we welcome them for the sake of the shop. You’ll see what I talk about.”

Liz could see what he meant the next day. A group of five people arrived at the shop and demanded a few pastries and tea. She tried to serve them right away, but she could see that they didn’t like the sweets at all. Nagisa was right. They were there only because the shop was the “it” place. However, she served them the best she could. On one occasion, she was bringing a new tea when she overheard their conversation.

“Did you know about Count Effingham?” said one of the women.  
“I did!” said one of the men.  
“I didn’t, what is it?” asked the second woman.  
“He got caught in bed with his servant!”  
“Oh, what a cliché!” commented a second man.  
“I know, but guess what? He even told his family he’s in love with her.”  
“Ugh! What an idiot!” criticized a third man. “He’s going to lose his title if he keeps saying that!”

Liz froze.

“Leave the title, his reputation! Suppose that he does leave his title. He’ll have to start as a commoner and, let’s face it, that’s not a good place to start. What can he do? We don’t know to do things they do.”

At that moment, Caesar walked in.

“Oh, not exactly… Hey, Baroque!” they called.

Caesar walked over them. 

“Tell me, what it’s like the commoner’s life.”  
“Quite nice, actually.”

Caesar was being a little cold to them. Though, Liz could hardly blame him.

“Did you hear about Count Effingham,” asked one of the boys.  
“I did.”  
“What do you think? Perhaps you could give him some tips on how to accommodate to his new lifestyle.”  
“The Count’s still got his title. Therefore, I’ve got nothing to discuss with him except what kind of tea he likes.”  
“Oh, come on! We were just teasing.”  
“But he could lose his title,” said one of the men in a matter-of-factly tone.  
“That shall only happen if he gets married with his servant.”  
“Can you imagine if she bears his child before that?”  
“Scandal!” said the two women in unison.  
“Shall I bring you something else?” asked Caesar icily.

Liz could see he was looking for a way to leave. The group paid and left the place.

“I can’t stand those guys!” exclaimed Caesar.  
“Caesar, can I ask you something?”  
“Sure.”  
“Is it true that noblemen can lose their status for getting involved with commoners?”  
“Well… not if it’s unofficial. But when they want to formally acknowledge it… They need permission from the paramount royal member.”  
“The King.”  
“Or Queen.”  
“Is that for all royal members? I mean, is it like a law in all the world or something?”  
“Well, as far as I know, many kingdoms have this law.”  
“I see…”

After her work, she went upstairs and locked herself in her room. There was an unfinished letter on the desk. The letter had no recipient yet on it, and it mostly was a full apology for not contacting him earlier. 

She had asked Zett for supplies to write the letter and she was waiting for Hisoka to finish with his dealings here in the Nighttime Kingdom, so she could give it to him to deliver it. However, hearing that conversation made her wonder if it had been more in the Prime Minister hard and rash decision to make her go away than what she thought in the first place.

“He was protecting his nephew,” she softly said. 

Liz tore the letter in little pieces between sobs. She threw herself on the bed and curled up. Maybe this was meant to be… After all, she had told Luca and Nox that she’d go away if Willem was to be wed with an aristocratic woman. Maybe this was the destiny fast forwarding what would eventually happen. Was this a way to make Willem to fulfill his destiny and provide Twilight Kingdom of one of the greatest kings in its history?

She resolved that tonight she was going to cry her heart out, and then tomorrow she’d start a new day and a new life away from what she had known in Twilight Kingdom. Tears started to stream down her cheeks again. Her love for the prince was too great and too deep that her heart was aching at the thought of never seeing him again. Little did she know that Willem was feeling exactly the same.

* * *

The Prime Minister received Rex’s letter. He crumpled it up knowing what this would mean for his nephew. But there was no point in delaying it. The sooner Willem found out, the sooner he’d mourn her and move on.

He called Willem to his office and as soon as he learned the news, Willem cursed everything and everyone. In his grieve he smashed and trashed his uncle’s office, and when Conrad made no attempt to stop him, he launched over him. 

“You did this!” bellowed Willem, “You and your stupid idea of acting like my father. You’re not my father and you’ll never be! I hate you!”

Then he struck him really hard on his cheekbone. Again, Conrad made no attempt to stop him nor did he offer any apology.

The one who intervened was Vain.

“Prince, stop!”  
“Let go off me!” ordered Willem wriggling himself out of Vain’s restraining embrace. “You shall never speak to me again!” he said with an accusing tone and his index finger pointing at the guardian. “None of you.”

He went to his room and he saw Liz’s robe on his bed. He didn’t cry for his mother because he wasn’t allowed back then, but in that moment, he didn’t care for people to see his deplorable state. He just wanted to turn back time, and to never leave her side. To force her to follow him everywhere, so he could keep a close eye on her as literally as possible. 

* * *

When the rest of the castle heard the news, they cried their hearts out. Amelia couldn’t stop crying on Scarlet’s lap. Vincent and General Smith decided to go on a ride with their horses, they went on different directions and agreed to meet at sunset to return to the castle. Yukiya, Randy and Sigurd asked to have a day off too. Joel poured his grieve on his music. And as for the guardians, they just decided to go to the rooftop of the castle to wait for orders and to also drink themselves up to their hearts contents. As for the princes, like their brother, they shut themselves in their rooms.

* * *

After a few days, dark clouds started to surround the entire kingdom. Not long after did rain pour down on it. 

Leaning on one of the windows, Willem looked at the rain. To him, even the sky was grieving alongside him. Suddenly, there was a knock on his door.

“Willem?”

He didn’t turn. Felix sweet voice was unmistakable. Despite not receiving a reply, he entered his brother’s room and sat across him.

“I came to check on you,” he commented.

Again, his brother kept silent.

“Would you like something to eat? I’ve been told that you haven’t eaten in a whole week,” he said with concern in his voice.

The Prince kept looking at the window. It was as if Felix’s presence was just like another furniture in the room. Willem couldn’t care less if he was there or not.

“Willem,” Felix shook his shoulder.

For the first time, he seemed to acknowledge that his brother was there, because he was looking at him.

“Eat something, please,” he implored. 

He handed him his fruit bowl that Amelia, who was now in charge of the cleaning in his room, constantly changed. Willem stopped allowing any other maid to enter into his room fearing Liz’s scent would fade faster if they cleaned it throughly.

He looked at the bowl and he shook his head. For the first time, he understood Liz when she refused to eat or ate very little. Of course, unlike her, Willem could go without food for an entire month or even more without fainting or feeling weak.

Lacan entered his brother’s chambers too. He saw Felix trying to make him eat something with no success.

“Willem, I need to ask you a favor. Could you draw me a map that shows me where Liz’s parents’ graves are?”  
“Why?” he asked surprised.

The second prince pursed his lips and clutched something he had in his hands. Willem could see it was a wrapping bag.

“What is that?”

Lacan hesitated before answering. He didn’t want to upset his brother or cause him more grieve.

“Well, do you remember the time when Liz and I were cooking?”

His brother felt his blood to boil at the reminiscing of that event. He hadn’t liked how he had found them. Lacan took Willem’s silence as a “yes.”

“Well, I grabbed a little bit of that dough and I placed it in a little vase and saved it as a memento,” he commented. “I know you might get upset, but aside from the little brunches we had, and a few other activities, I shared little time with her. I want to place this in her parents’ graves as an apology for her death.”

Why didn’t Willem think that? He had promised to her parents’ graves that he’d protect her and he’d failed miserably in more than one occasion. So he should be the one going to ask for their forgiveness.

“I think that’s a noble idea,” commented Felix. “Would you mind if I joined you?”

Lacan thought it for a moment. He really wanted to do this alone… 

“Well, I —”

Then he realized he might need someone to talk to later. Besides, he could tell Felix was also grieving in his own way. It now occured to him that his idea might be quite therapeutic. 

“Sure,” agreed Lacan with a smile.  
“I’ll go as well,” announced Willem.

They both stared at him. It was the first time he was going to leave his room after he heard the news on Liz’s death. However, Lacan couldn’t refuse to Willem. The second prince nodded and both, Felix and Willem, went to their bedrooms in order to change for the ride.

Whilst Willem was changing, he realized that he never gave a thought on her parents. True it was that if they had been alive, then of course he’d be the one heading to them first. He felt terrible and what made it worse was that it was his brother the one who had thought about them first. He seemed to be focusing more on her, but not anymore. He was soon to be close to her as well.

* * *

When they arrived at the place, Lacan and Felix gasped in astonishment.

“Liz… lived here?” asked Lacan.  
“Yes,” Willem said getting down from his horse and then walking towards the shaggy house that was even in a worse state now that Liz had moved out. “Come.”

He led his brothers to the tombs. There was a beautiful vase with some brown withered flowers. It seemed that Liz hadn’t been here for a long time, and after taking his time to do the mathematics, Willem realized that she hadn’t come since she’d discovered that he had been the last one to sign for the order that killed her parents and burnt her hometown.

He took the vase and told his brothers to wait for him for a moment. After a while he came back with fresh Aruenaristies. 

“They were Liz’s parents’ favorites,” he explained to the other two, who had stared at him puzzled. “There’s a spring over there,” he pointed with his head the dark path where he had disappeared into a few moments ago.  
“A spring?” asked Felix.  
“Yes…” he said putting down the vase in the middle of the tombs, just like she did last time he was with her. He didn’t get up, he remained knelt down, “I met her there for the first time, and it never struck me that this was one of the villages that I…” he couldn’t continue. Tears started to well-up in his eyes again and felt a knot in his throat.

Lacan came close to him and grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it in a supportive manner. 

“Willem, I appreciate that you showed me the way, but would you mind if I talked to her parents alone?”  
“What?”  
“It’s just… there are some personal things I want to share…”  
“If you’re talking about your love for her, Lacan,” Felix said, “then it’s no use to hide it.”  
“Well, yes, but there are some other things.”

 _What other things?_ Willem asked in his mind. He always hated the idea of her having secrets, especially when it came to his brothers. However, this wasn’t the time for that. He needed to stop being selfish and to think that his brothers were also grieving her.

“No,” said Willem, “I need to stay here and hear you. I forgot that I might not be the only one suffering.”  
“You shan’t like it,” Lacan pointed out.  
“I despise the idea of her not being alive, so I guess no matter what you say, nothing can overcome this feeling.”

Lacan suppressed a smile at his brother attempt of sarcasm. He knelt down next to Willem.

“Hi,” he said to the tombs, “my name is Lacan and I’m — I was a friend of your daughter,” he said. “I loved her. I really did. Nothing made me happier than to see her smile and hear her laugh. There was a time when I asked her to choose me as the man for her, but she rejected me, for a better man…” 

At this point, Willem, who had been clenching his fists and closing his eyes, opened them and glanced at his brother in astonishment.

“Well, I can hardly blame her,” he continued pretending he never realized his brother’s reaction. “I want to give this to you,” and he put the package he’d brought with him almost next to the vase as an offering. “I made this with your daughter. This was the first time she taught me how to bake. Ever since, I’ve been learning a little about cooking and baking as hobby. I want to give this to you, because I realized that even though she did not choose me to be her love companion, she still offered me her friendship, and I sort of failed to her. People tell me it wasn’t my fault, but it doesn’t feel like it, so I wanted to apologize to you for not being there for her when she needed me most.”

The heir prince was about to say something when Felix knelt down next to Willem too, on the opposite side Lacan had chosen.

“I wanted to bring you this too,” the youngest prince spoke putting down a white cloth tainted with something that was unmistakably blood. “This is a piece of the clothes I wore the day I was attacked. I kept this in order to never forget what your daughter did for me. But now I realize that I never needed this to remember her selfless act. Nothing can make me forget it. She sort of saved me in many different ways. She was the kindest, proudest and most intelligent woman I ever met. I wanted to thank you for bringing her into our world and to teach me more than books had taught me before. I’ll miss her dearly as well.”

Willem smiled at him and put a hand over his little brother’s head.

He now turned to the graves.

“I promised you that I was going to protect her and that I’d do everything in my power to make her happy. I failed you miserably. I failed you years ago when I signed that cursed document, and I’ve been failing you ever since,” he gulped. 

The tears were rolling down his cheeks now and he had no intention in hiding them. If Liz’s parents could see him, he wanted to make sure that they knew he regretted every action he made.

“I loved her. I really did. More than you can imagine,” Lacan and Felix glared at him in puzzlement. For a moment they didn’t know if he was talking now to the graves or them. “I was so in love with her that I asked her to marry me.”  
“What?!” the both exclaimed.  
“I wanted to marry her,” repeated Willem as if their brothers reactions were the most common thing, “But now… What kind of man am I if I couldn’t protect the woman I loved? What kind of king would I be if I make terrible decisions day after day? She told me once that I’d make an excellent king, but I’m not sure of that anymore.”

Then they saw Willem had with him something in his hand. Lacan recognized it. It was poison. Lacan immediately launched towards Willem, who dodged him and tried to uncork the little bottle. Felix, who now saw the bottle, launched towards him and held him from behind in order to refrain him in trying to open the bottle. Taking advantage of this, Lacan took out the bottle and smashed it against a rock that was nearby. Felix let Willem go and the Crown Prince stumbled down and fell on his knees. 

“Are you crazy or are you an idiot?!” asked Lacan punching him in the face.

Willem didn’t react.

“I can’t live without her! It’s unbearable! I want to be with her!”  
“Willem…” started to say Felix. He wanted to console his brother, but how could he when he was feeling the same?  
“Willem, do you really think that Liz would have wanted that?”

He shook his head. He knew that answer.

“You cannot do that! I won’t let you. That would be a sweet reward for your cowardice. And you’d make her life worthless. Everybody in the history will hate the woman who drove the Crown Prince mad and suicidal. They’ll depict her as an evil witch or a demon. I’ll never let you to turn her into the villain of our stories. The best way you can honor her is to live up to her expectations then,” said Lacan in a matter-of-factly tone.

Willem stared at his brother in shock. He was right. Liz would be all that in the eyes of the people. 

“Live and honor her memory, you little idiot,” repeated his brother.

Willem nodded in agreement. He dried off his tears with his sleeve and then he tried to pull a smile, which to ho his brothers looked like a grimace. They laughed at him, and somehow Willem felt like there was still a little beam of light in the whole darkness that had consumed him since he found out of his love’s death.

They walked back to their horses and gave one last look to where Liz used to live.

“I can’t believe she lived here for so many years,” commented Lacan.  
“Why did she never look for another place?” Felix asked, “She could have moved to another village and come here every once in a while.”  
“She was a strong woman,” replied Willem, “I never asked her why she never left this place, but somehow I think I know the answer. Despite the horrible things that happened here, she still felt that the love for her parents and villagers was still alive.”  
“That would explain it…” commented Lacan.  
“What?” Willem asked.  
“She used to ask one of the maids in the palace to give donations of her clothes and some of the things she never ate to the misfortune ones. Liz’s heart was so grand that she probably felt the suffering of the people in need. I’m sure she could feel their love as well, even when they’ve left this world.”

Willem really hated not knowing things about her. However, he didn’t realize he knew her more than he thought. 

He glanced at the house and the rest of the village. He now wished he could have met her before. Probably then, he would’ve tried to make her live in the best possible place…

Suddenly, an idea came up to his mind. 

“I can rebuild the village…”  
“What?”  
“Think about it, we have the resources to do so,” he said yanking the reins a little and making his horse start walking around the area. 

His brothers followed him behind. He seemed to be thinking in something.

“I could rebuild this village in her honor. Maker her parents grave a monument for the village and keep the spring as a recreational area. To make it what once it was… or better.”  
“I see what you mean,” commented Lacan.  
“And I can even change the name, make it Liz Village.”  
“Well, I guess you’re right,” said Felix.  
“I believe you’ve got a project now,” said Lacan with some pride. “It may take you a while though.”  
“Well, it’s a good thing we’ve got longer life spans than humans.”  
“You’re right.”

Willem smiled. Lacan had been right. He could keep moaning and getting depressed over her death, or he could live up to her expectations as a future king.

“Would you like to help me?” he asked his brothers.

They glanced at him in astonishment.

“I mean, I can do it by myself,” he said misinterpreting their silence. “It’s just I thought that perhaps you’d like to —”  
“Yes!” they answered in unison.

Willem gazed at them and they both had smiles on their faces. He smiled as well. They returned to the palace to rest feeling that tomorrow they were starting their lives with a new purpose.


	5. Chapter 5

A week had gone by since Liz started her new life in the Nighttime Kingdom. One morning, Liz went downstairs to have breakfast with the rest of her new friends. She ate a little, which kind of worried Nagisa.

“Don’t you like my food?”   
“Yes, it’s very lovely, Nagisa! It’s just I’m not that hungry in the mornings.”  
“Or in the afternoons,” Caesar pointed out.  
“Or in the nights,” finished Zett.  
“I may not be a girl who eats such big amount of foods, though I do enjoy them,” she smiled pleasantly to Nagisa to apologize. “You must please excuse me if my lack of appetite makes you uncomfortable.”

Nagisa kept quiet, he narrowed his eyes.

“I’d prefer if you could just eat a little bit more,” said Caesar grabbing another piece of bread and buttering it. “Work here is very hard and our working hours are very long.”

He munched his toast and said nothing more. Liz pursed her lips. Caesar was right and he was her boss now. She then grabbed another toast and ate it.

She then went to start with the cleaning before opening the Tea House.

“Don’t you think that Liz is quite more sophisticated than regular girls?” asked Nagisa to the two other guys who were still munching what was left of the breakfast.  
“Yes, though she doesn’t strike me as a noblewoman either… At least not by birth since she knows how to cook or to clean,” observed Caesar.  
“She said that she was from Twilight Kingdom, didn’t she?” asked Nagisa.  
“Yes, she mentioned it to Lucious,” answered Zett.  
“Maybe because the customs there are different, we may be perceiving her differently. She may not be royal or noblewoman by birth, but she might be from an accommodated family.”  
“Or the opposite, maybe her family used to be royalty. There are a lot of cases of noble families losing their wealth and, therefore, their status,” suggested Caesar.  
“Either way, we might find it out at the end of the summer,” said Zett.  
“What are you talking about?”   
“Our Prime Customer is officially engaged,” he announced, “When I went for the supplies to check if the ship was ready to sail away again, I saw in one of the news tabloids that Lucious’ engagement is coming to an end since it mentioned that the Prince wedding’s gonna be celebrated at the end of summer.”  
“I’ll make sure to congratulate him when I see him,” commented Caesar a little sad.

Nagisa and Zett glanced at each other.

* * *

It was almost time to open and Hisoka showed up at the store.

“Phew! I’m totally tired of checking on the customers, but the good thing is that they’re starting noticing as a potential trading market.”  
“Good work, Master Hisoka,” praised Zett.  
“Are we having trouble here?” asked a little concerned. It wasn’t an impolite question, but a normal question for him. They all knew this.  
“None. Liz has been very helpful,” answered Caesar.  
“I like her a lot, Master Hisoka. If I were a guy I’d totally fall for her,” remarked Nagisa.  
“You’re a guy!” replied Zett and Caesar in unison.  
“On the outside!” rebuked Nagisa offended.

Hisoka chuckled. 

“My, my! Is it my imagination, or do I perceive the Tea House more lively than usual this morning?”  
“What are you talking about? It’s always been like this,” replied Zett puzzled.  
“Not really,” said Hisoka, “You guys have always been hard workers, but not that lively during the mornings. If one wanted to catch you up in a good mood, then they’d have to stop by after midday,” the man said covering his mouth with his sleeves to hide his smile, though his eyes gave away the amusement he was having.  
“How rude! We’ve always been good to our customers!” exclaimed Nagisa.  
“Indeed, but you’re even more polite after lunch.”  
“Leave it, guys,” said Caesar with a smile, “Master Hisoka is just pulling your leg. But I guess he’s sort of right. There’s definitely a change around here over these past days.”  
“Isn’t it? I bet it’s a good thing then that Liz’s here. She’s been like a sunshine,” commented Hisoka. “Has she found the job difficult?”  
“You should ask her, but she never complains,” replied Caesar.  
“She hardly eats either,” blurted Nagisa.  
“Really? That’s not good…”

Hisoka got worried too. In the ship Liz ate little as well. At first, the merchant had thought that maybe she was seasick or that she was being considerate about the amount of food left in the ship. However, he imagined that once in the mainland, she’d regain some appetite. He decided to talk to her. Perhaps she wasn’t that happy with her job or the place.

“Hello, Liz,” greeted Hisoka.  
“Hello, Hiso — I mean, Master Hisoka,” she greeted with a bow. She’d been instructed to do so by Nagisa, who was from Hinomoto as well, and told her that was a part of their custom.   
“You may call me just Hisoka,” he said, “it feels weird when a pretty girl like you calls me with a title.”

Liz giggled at this.

“How do you like your new job?” he asked gently.  
“It’s great. Thank you. Customers are quite nice most of the time and I like the guys. They make me feel like family, especially Nagisa.”  
“That’s good. Nagisa is a good man. You seem to be enjoying yourself,” Hisoka ventured to say.

The merchant saw her pursing her lips for a second before she smiled. He didn’t like that smile, though. It was more like a grimace. 

“Liz, I know we haven’t spent that much time together, but I hope that, eventually, you see us as your friends and possible family. We like to think that we’re family here, since none of us, with the great exception of Caesar and myself, has no family members left alive. Although mine are too far away. I recall you said in the ship that you were an orphan too.”  
“Yes, and I’m starting to consider you as family. You’ve sheltered me here and made me feel welcome. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”  
“That’s good. So in case you don’t like the job, you can tell us. We’ll find you something that you might like more.”

She shook her head.

“Thank you, but I really think this is great. Honestly!”

She smiled tenderly this time and that was a relief.

“Good. I’m glad. Listen, I’ll be a little absent since I’m asked to go to Queensblade and Fairest Kingdom.”  
“That far?”

Fairest Kingdom was Twilight’s neighbor. They weren’t in good terms, but they weren’t at war either.

“Yes, so I won’t be back till the end of summer. I’ll try to return a little earlier, but it’ll depend on the wind, the roads and, of course, the business. The guys can tell you that sometimes my time predictions can be erratic,” he said with a smile.  
“I see.”  
“I hope to see you well when I return,” he said plopping his hand on her head. “Please, take care of yourself, especially your health.”  
“Yes,” she said. She knew he meant about the food, “I’ll do that.”

Hisoka just smiled and turned. He was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, that’s right! Didn’t you say that you wanted me to deliver a letter since regular post mail is even slower here?”  
“No, Yes, No, I mean… I did. I wanted to give you a letter, but I… I didn’t finish it, so probably I’ll send it later.”  
“All right, if you say so. Take care, then.”  
“Have a nice voyage. May the winds blow in your favor.” She said with a small bow.

Hisoka was stupefied. It wasn’t the first time Liz struck him as more than a simple commoner like him. However, when she turned around and diligently started to clean the tables, he really didn’t think it that much. Maybe on the journey he could investigate a little about any neighboring ship that may have sunk around where he found her.

* * *

“Hello, Liz,” greeted Lucious with a smile.

The prince had come the moment they were about to have dinner after an exhausting day. It had been a couple of days after Hisoka left.

“Hello, Highness,” she greeted bowing her head a little and giving a little curtsy.  
“Hey, there!” exclaimed Caesar.  
“Hey, I wanted a word with you!” said Lucious. “And I’d prefer it in private…”  
“State Confidentiality?” asked Caesar.  
“Not quite,” the prince answered.  
“Then I see no reason to hide,” rebuked Caesar, “You know you can trust my friends, including Liz.”

She smiled at this. Hisoka had been right. They were acting like family.

“By the way, congrats on your marriage, Prince!” exclaimed Zett, trying not to pay too much attention to the fact that Lucious didn’t blindly trust them.  
“Marriage? Are you getting married, Sire?” asked the girl.  
“Please, Liz, don’t call me like that,” said Lucious with a sad face. “At least call me by my name when we’re here.”

The girl giggled. Sometimes the prince reminded him of Lacan, but then she tried to suppress that memory. Thinking of the second prince, made her think of the first. And she didn’t want to think of him now. All the guys noted the struggle inside her, but said nothing. They still felt like they shouldn’t pry into her past yet.

“I also wanted to congratulate you, Sire,” commented Caesar.  
“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that…” said Lucious a little embarrassed and ignoring Caesar’s sarcasm. “It’s going to be quite an event and thing is that _he_ is even going to be there!”  
“If you need a protector, you just have to say it,” teased Caesar.  
“Protector?!” asked Zett, Nagisa and Liz at the same time.  
“I don’t need a bloody bodyguard!” exclaimed Lucious like he were offended.  
“No? Then I believe you can handle him rather well by now,” said Caesar with a grin.  
“Ugh!”  
“Caesar, you were Lucious’ protector?” asked Nagisa.  
“For a while.”  
“Until he resigned his post and title,” Lucious disdainfully pointed out.  
“I thought you were his babysitter,” said Nagisa.  
“I was everything to Lucious from the moment I arrived at Moon Castle,” explained Caesar, “At first, I was his babysitter; then, I was his playmate; and lastly, I was his guardian.”  
“Until you decided to leave that life,” repeated Lucious.  
“Why would you do that?” asked Liz quite curious.

Both Caesar and Lucious kept quiet. Liz immediately thought she’d asked something very intrusive. She reprehended herself. After all, they’d tried to give her space and not question her about her own past.

“Then, who’s Lucious talking about? From whom does he need protection?” asked Zett a little alarmed.

To their surprise, Caesar grinned mischievously whilst Lucious pouted.

“It’s a nobleman from Queensblade,” answered Caesar quite amused. “His name is Zeus and he’s Lucious’ other best friend.”  
“Really?” asked Nagisa.  
“We used to hang out a lot with him and Lucious’ friends during summer,” explained Caesar. “Every year each one of us would offer their residences to spend a whole week and have fun.”  
“Still… Why Lucious would need your help Caesar if he’s good friends with this nobleman?” asked Nagiza quite puzzled.  
“Well,” said Caesar again with the grin, “to tell you the truth, Zeus is a little —”  
“Horrible,” finished Lucious. “And a brute man. Just plain and pure muscle brain.”  
“Despite everything, Your Highness, you and Zeus get along really well, but they’re always bickering at each other, and I believe you don’t want to give Claudia the wrong impression?” asked Caesar with a derisive grin.  
“That’s —!”  
“Very well,” sighed Caesar interrupting the Prince, “I’ll help you.”  
“You will?”  
“Yes, yes… Although I do believe you’ll have to work very hard so I could be admitted back into the palace,” commented Caesar.  
“Well, actually…” this time the Prince was the one grinning mischievously. “I wanted to give you this.”

He pulled out something from his cloak. It was a parchment scroll with an official royal seal. 

“You little…!” started to say Caesar.

Lucious dropped it on the table and ran to the door.

“By the way you’re all invited to the wedding as well,” yelled Lucious leaving the room so Caesar wouldn’t have time to refute.

* * *

The Twilight Kingdom noted a change in the Crown Prince. Now he was more involved into the kingdom’s affairs and what it really surprised them was that he wanted to rebuild the eradicated villages that had been burnt years ago due to the terrible plague the capital heard so much about. 

The Prime Minister had given his consent on the rebuilding process and loved to see his three nephews working on the same project and for the benefit of the Kingdom.

“It’s not for the Kingdom,” replied Willem bitterly when his uncle mentioned this.

Conrad sighed. He knew he wasn’t in good terms with none of his nephews. Willem the least of all.

One afternoon he had to call the three to his office. There was a letter in his hand and the three Dragonkins recognized their father’s seal.

“The King is returning,” announced Conrad.  
“Father is returning?” repeated Felix.  
“He may be tired from all political and diplomatic visits to the other kingdoms,” commented Conrad, “so any project or —”  
“I’m not putting on hold the Reitz Project,” snarled Willem at once.

His uncle only raised his hand to hush him.

“Let me finish,” he requested and then he continued as if there had been no interruption. “Any project that we may have in our hands shan’t be discussed at all during the first days that he’s here, so he can relax. However, he shan’t return home until the end of summer. However, it has been reported that the heir prince of the Nighttime Kingdom is marrying Princess Claudia from Gedonelune Kingdom.”  
“What?” exclaimed Willem and Felix at the same time.  
“I thought they were enemies,” commented Lacan. “Just like we’re to Fairest Kingdom.”  
“We’re not enemies with Fairest Kingdom… yet, but in the past there have been kingdoms that have been united and declared peace between each other through political marriages,” explained Conrad.  
“So Prince Lucious is marrying Prince Claudia just for politics?” asked Felix.

The Prime Minister couldn’t help to show a pity smile. His nephew was so naïve sometimes. 

“Felix, this is common amongst royalty and nobility.”  
“It’s still… cruel…”  
“How come Father married Mother then?” asked Lacan.

Willem remained quiet. He remembered walking one day into her Mother’s private room and he asked that sort of question. She was sitting in one of the beautiful and fluffy armchairs reading a book. 

“Hello, my little Prince,” she greeted him extending an arm, which Willem took, leading him to her side and making room for him to sit down next to her, since he was quite tall for a boy to be sitting on her lap.   
“Mother, may I ask you a question?”  
“Certainly,” she said kissing his head and caressing his little horns.  
“How did you and Father get married?”

She let out a deep sigh.

“Well, to tell you the truth I wasn’t supposed to get married with your father. Though he was a nobleman, he wasn’t exactly royalty. I was engaged to marry a prince from our neighboring kingdom, Fairest. However, I met your father during my birthday. My father prepared a beautiful ball and all people from our kingdom and neighboring kingdoms came to congratulate me. But when your father and I met each other, I just knew. You see, for us, Dragonkins, we have what we call our Soul Mate. They become our treasure. Your father became mine after I laid my eyes on him, and the good thing was that he felt the same.”  
“What a beautiful story!” exclaimed young Willem.  
“Well, I tell it beautifully, but it was also hard to put up with everyone around us, and also to my father to realize the truth. However, once Dragonkins find their Soul Mates, they just can’t let them go easily.”  
“Did Grandfather accept Father afterwards?”  
“Not really,” she sighed. “He couldn’t overcome the idea that if it weren’t for him, we’d probably have achieved a peaceful treat with Fairest.”

Willem remained thoughtful for a moment.

“Mother, can they not correspond us? Our Soul Mates, I mean.”  
“It’s quite rare, but it happens, especially if they’re humans. We Dragonkins need to find the right one, but humans live so shortly, they haste into any relationship with the person they might feel infatuated with. There have been cases when a Dragonkin find his or her Soul Mate, but they’re already married. Sometimes that changes everything, but more often humans decide to be loyal to their human partner than to us.”  
“I’m glad that you and Father found each other then,” he said.  
“So am I, my dear Prince, and you and your brother Lacan are the greatest gifts we have received,” she said with her forehead against his. “And the little one coming as well.”

Young Willem chuckled and put his hand on his Mother’s bulging womb.

“Mother, what if I never find my Soul Mate?”  
“Oh, my beloved son,” sighed the Queen with sadness in her face, “I’m afraid you will. I only hope that she’s worthy of you,” she cupped his face in her hands and then gently put a lock of his hair behind his ear. “And I also hope you treat her with the love and respect she’ll deserve. Protect her Willem if she’s human, because humans are so fragile. She can have a longer life span thanks to you, but just like your father, she could still get sick or die in an accident.”

It dawned on Willem that her mother had warned him everything he failed with Liz. Why didn’t he remember that crucial part of her wisdom until now? Especially about an important thing for Dragonkins? Why hadn’t he asked more? He sighed after his uncle finished explaining everything that happened between their parents to his nephews.

“Anyway,” said the Prime Minister clearing his throat, “since your Father wishes to come back as soon as possible, to make a detour and return to Nighttime would make him to stay away for another couple of months.”  
“Where are you getting at, Uncle?” asked Lacan.

The Prime Minister directed his attention towards Willem.

“Willem, your Father has requested that, as a Crown Prince, you shall be our ambassador in the wedding ceremony. Therefore, you shall go to the Nighttime Kingdom.”  
“I refuse,” replied Willem, “I’ve got plenty to do here. Lacan or Felix can represent the kingdom if they wish to.”  
“No, they can’t. The Nighttime and Gedonelune Kings might get offended if they hear you didn’t attend to the Prince and Princess’ wedding. They expect your father’s absence since he recently visited them, but you need to do this to represent your kingdom and to show that one day you’ll be sitting on the throne, just like Prince Lucious.”

Willem crossed his arms and pouted. Conrad sighed. His nephew was acting like he did before Liz had that positive influence on him.

“Willem, I don’t want to argue,” he said rubbing his temple. “This is an order, not a suggestion and it comes from the King himself. As the Crown Prince and his son, you’ve got a double responsibility.”

The Heir Prince remained silent. His brothers kept glancing from Willem to their uncle and back. The Prime Minister took the word again.

“There are two noblemen in our kingdom that have been personally invited by Prince Lucious himself. Apparently they’re good friends with him. We’ve been informed that they are planning to go there earlier before the celebrations start.”  
“Celebrations?” asked Felix quite curious.

Again, the Prime Minister smiled. Unlike Willem, Felix had been in Castle in the Sky all his life. He rarely even got out of the Palace’s grounds.

“Yes. Royal weddings normally are celebrated during a whole week. Three days before the wedding; then the ceremony day; and finally three more days to congratulate the newlyweds.”  
“Lacan, Felix, could you give us a moment?” asked the eldest of Dragonkins.

Felix was about to leave, but Lacan stopped him.

“Willem… we should stop having secrets. Whatever you discuss, we’ll eventually find it out,” Lacan pointed out. “What is it, Willem? Are you afraid that the whole project will be held on whilst you’re absent?”  
“No.”  
“Do you think we might end before you return?”  
“Impossible. There’s so much to do.”  
“Or perhaps that Lacan and I might make a mess or something?” ventured Felix to ask.  
“No, that’s not it!”  
“Then what is it?” asked Conrad.  
“I just can’t stand seeing Prince Lucious getting married! Even if it’s a political wedding, it reminds me of…”

He didn’t finish. They all kept quiet.

“I understand, Willem, and I know you’re still mourning. However, like I said, this is a priority. The King doesn’t know about your suffering, though I’m not sure that in this situation it would matter to him. This is one of your responsibilities.”

He gulped.

“Liz would’ve wanted you to go,” he commented.  
“Don’t you dare to say her name!” bellowed Willem to his uncle with an accusatory finger. “You’re not allowed to say her name again! Understood?”

The room filled with tension. Willem was panting with rage whilst the Prime Minister was gazing at him with eyes filled of fear and pain. Before he could say anything else or do something he might regret, the prince left with his brothers following him behind.

“Willem!” called Felix.  
“I’m not in the mood to have dinner Felix,” said Willem dismissively.   
“It’s not that. Wait, please!” he said catching up to him, he grabbed his brother’s shoulder and made him and spun him around. Lacan was behind Felix.  
“What?”  
“I think you should go.”  
“What?!” exclaimed both Willem and Lacan.  
“Look, you’re still mourning Liz’s death, and you’re in every right to do so. However, a trip might help you to clear your head and lift a little the pain in your heart. Perhaps you don’t have to attend all the parties, but it might do you some good to be out in a place where she never was.”  
“I have to admit Felix is right. This might do you some good,” said Lacan crossing his arms.

Willem sighed. 

“Fine, but I shan’t go with those noblemen whoever they are! I’ve got enough with torturing myself during that week.”

* * *

The months went by rather quickly. Thanks to the fact that the sun rarely got out, Liz found out that the Nighttime Kingdom was rather cold, although it never snowed. Even the beginning of summer had quite chilly days and nights. Nagisa mentioned to Liz that maybe that was the reason why the Tea House was so popular, because they specialized in hot beverages. 

The whole Kingdom was happy with the beginning of summer because they knew that their beloved prince would marry by the end of it and, with this, the years of peace and possible prosperity would fill the kingdom. 

By the end of spring, Liz had gotten quite a clientele. Most men went for a cup of tea, just to delight themselves with the sight of her. Nagisa was more than happy, because according to him, the Tea House always filled with women who came to see either Caesar or Zett. According to Nagisa, thanks to Liz, clientele was now more… balanced.

“Hello, Liz,” greeted Lucious with a grim expression one afternoon when the Tea House was closing.  
“Welcome, Lucious!” greeted the girl back, then reading his expression she tried to change the topic in an attempt to make him feel better. “Excited for the festival?”

There was always a festival at the start of every season. Liz had missed by only a couple of weeks the Spring Festival, but her friends had told her about the other festivals and she was excited to see them all.

“Yeah, sure…” he replied gloomly.

Liz was unsure on how to respond.

“Actually, I wanted to ask you a favour,” mentioned Prince Lucious.  
“Um, sure…” she hesitated, she had spent much time with the Prince to know that he was up to something.  
“Princess Claudia wrote a letter mentioning that her lady-in-waiting was feeling sick since she was an elderly woman and she didn’t want to bring her to a new place for her last years,” he explained. 

Liz didn’t know Princess Claudia, but the last thing Lucious said made her think that she must be a really caring person if she was putting the old woman before her own comfort.

“So I was thinking,” continued Lucious, “she should choose someone from here, and I was thinking you could be her lady-in-waiting.”

The girl, who was cleaning a table whilst listening to the Prince, froze on the spot. She definitely wasn’t expecting that. 

“Me?”  
“Yes.”  
“Why me? I’m sure you can find other women to serve a Princess…”  
“True, but I need someone who can speak well of my kingdom and my family. Liz, you’ve also become part of my family too,” commented the Prince holding her hand. “You’re like a sister to me.”

Her heart warmed at his comment, and she couldn’t deny it. Instead of coming to the Tea House once or twice a week, Lucious tried to stop by every day if it was possible.

“Prince, I —”  
“It would only be until the wedding, of course,” added Lucious. “And I’d compensate you enormously. Say what you want and it’s yours.”  
“May I think about it, please?”  
“Of course.”

She left the room. Caesar was entering at the exact moment she was walking away. He could see she was distressed.

“What was all that about?” asked Caesar.

Lucious told him about his proposal.

“I wish you would’ve consulted me first. Liz is my responsibility when Hisoka’s not around.”  
“I’m sorry, but I think she’ll be able to handle it.”  
“I’m not saying she won’t. She just… She reminds me of myself. I’m pretty sure Liz isn’t more than a mere commoner. However, she hasn’t opened herself to any of us. Not even Nagisa, whom she seems fond to.”   
“She’ll be fine. She strikes me as a stronger woman than you’d think at first glance.”  
“Still, she might not like the idea.”  
“Let her tell me that,” suggested Lucious.

Liz was in her room thinking. Not even Nagisa bothered or insisted with questions. She got into bed thinking of Lucious’ new job proposal. She didn’t want to return to a palace. It wasn’t in her plans. She was starting to feel comfortable in her new simple life, just like she had been content in her previous one before Willem took her to Castle in the Sky. She wanted to decline, but it wasn’t in her nature to refuse her help to a friend in need.

The next morning, Liz accepted the prince’s job offering.

“Really?” asked the Prince quite pleased.  
“Really.”  
“And what would you like in return?”  
“I’ll think about it later…”  
“Very well… but like I said, anything you want within reasonable as well. However, you’ll be needing lessons.”  
“Lessons?”  
“Just a few ones about certain customs in the court, you know, the necessaries ones: Dancing, Manners in Eating and Behaviour…”

Liz wanted to tell Prince Lucious she had received some of those before… on her own and with the Princes of Twilight. Joel had been so kind to teach her music, but Lacan had offered to be his dance partner during the afternoons. Felix had taught her some behaviour manners, and Willem had focused on the eating manners. However, since she wasn’t willing to speak of her past, she agreed to Lucious’ lessons.

* * *

The day when Princess Claudia was to arrive at Moon Castle came. Liz and Caesar were amongst the nobles and servants that were supposed to greet the Princess. Liz glanced at Caesar’s direction, and reminisced when Caesar had told his friends the truth about his family and the reason why he had gotten mad at Lucious when he handed him that sealed paper.

Caesar revealed to them that he actually was from Gedonelune and that he was a distant cousin of Princess Claudia. His father, a widower, had been sent as an ambassador and his son was supposed to be Prince Lucious’ playmate in the meantime until he could become either Lucious’ guardian or the new ambassador. However, the pressure had been so much in the end, that he scorned his family name and decided to live as a commoner.

Caesar and Liz kept staring at Lucious. He was really both nervous and annoyed. He had met Princess Claudia before, but that was when they were children, back when the enmity between their countries was still not that obvious, and they both still could attend to certain events where a sole kingdom was ally to both Nighttime and Gedonelune Kingdom, which was usually Queensblade.

The King, who had become ill the past week, couldn’t greet the Princess on the day of her arrival, so he wasn’t in the line of the nobility and servants that were supposed to welcome the Princess. However, Claudia preferred it that way since the first person who spoke to her was her future husband.

“Princess Claudia,” greeted Lucious stepping forward and offering his hand to have the princess descend from her carriage. “I-I’m so glad you’ve arrived. I trust everything well went. I mean, went well.”

Caesar and Liz had to repress a laugh. They thought that Lucious was being adorable.

After the fair, yet awkward introductions — in which Claudia embraced Caesar as well, since she knew he was a relative — Lucious proceeded to show her the place she’d have to call home from then on. Once inside the castle, the Prince introduced her to Liz.

“She’s appointed to be your lady-in-waiting for the time being,” commented the Prince.

Liz made a curtsy and a bow with her head.

“She’s lovely,” said Claudia. “How old are you?”  
“I’m 20, Your Highness.”  
“Only a couple of years younger than me,” observed the Princess.  
“Yes, and Caesar’s,” the girl added.  
“Princess?” said a voice knocking on the door.  
“Enter,” she replied.

Two men entered the room. One had beautiful golden wavy hair with sparkling purple-blueish eyes. His whole aura was of the sort of a prince or, at least, nobility. He seemed to be young, but at the same time older than them, and his smile was sort of childish, yet warming. On the other hand, the man next to him couldn’t be more opposite to the first. He looked like a warrior, the same aura that Liz had perceive in either General Smith, Vincent or Glenn. He was tall, had dark, shoulder-length hair, and an expression so serious that the girl was immediately reminded of the Prime Minister of Twilight Kingdom. He even looked older that the rest of them.

“Allow me to introduce you,” Claudia said to Caesar and Lucious. “This is one of my relatives, and has come as one of my ambassadors, Lord Alfonse of House Goldstein”  
“We’ve met before,” commented Lucious with a smile.  
“It’s good to see you in good health, Your Highness,” greeted Alfonse with a smile.  
“I’m glad you’re well too, Alfonse,” replied the Prince.  
“Thank you,” said the golden-haired boy with a small head bow.  
“And, this is Colonel Drago of House Sauer,” continued Princess Claudia as it there had been no interruption. “He’s come with me to be my guardian until the wedding.”

The man made a bow to Prince Lucious. The Prince acknowledged him.

“Princess, there’s a message I was asked to give to you, as soon as we arrived,” the Colonel said.  
“Sure, would you excuse me?” Claudia said.

Liz was unsure of what to do until Lucious told her to follow Claudia unless she dismissed her.

Stepping outside, Liz saw the man delivering a letter and the Princess receiving it. When Drago saw her, he confronted Liz. However, she diligently told him that she was to follow Princess Claudia until she isn’t needed. Claudia smiled and the Colonel was shocked. 

“You’re fierce,” observed Claudia with a giggle. “I believe no one has been able to stand up to the Colonel since he entered the army, except for my father.”

The Colonel, however, glared at the girl who boldly held his stare. 

“Come, Liz. Show me the way to my room, please,” Princess Claudia asked politely.

The Colonel kept looking at the girl and when she was walking by the Princess’ side, he couldn’t help to notice what a nice figure Liz had.

The next day was the first day of the Summer Festival. Liz picked a dress for the Princess to look less formal, and the people would feel more at ease when greeting her. Claudia asked her all sorts of questions, and she soon learned, like most people, that Liz could answer everything at once except for any question related to her own past.

“Well, at least tell me about my future husband,” demanded Claudia with her arms up waiting for Liz to smooth her dress after the maids had finished dressing her up.  
“What would the Princess like to know?” she asked politely.  
“How is he?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Is he a tyrant? Is he ill-tempered? Is he cold? Is he rude?”

Liz remained silent for a while and went to get her some jewels to wear, she sighed.

“These aren’t fair questions, Your Highness,” she said.  
“What do you mean?”  
“You’re practically forcing me to speak ill of the Prince because it’s apparent that you’ve made him the villain in your story,” replied Liz.

Claudia blushed. 

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think he might be happy to marry the daughter of his enemy,” she pointed out.  
“Well, it would be if Prince Lucious were those things you asked, but I can assure you he’s not,” she said combing Claudia’s hair.  
“Well, you certainly hear some things in the court from people who have met him.”  
“Ill-speakers,” she cunningly rebuked, “People who diminish Prince Lucious to be in good terms with your father… wouldn’t you believe so?” she asked to Claudia’s reflection on the mirror.

The Princess smiled at her.

“You’re right.”  
“Prince Lucious is shy,” said Liz with a smile, “which can be easily confused with coldness. He’s kind, but he tries not to show it, because royal men are taught that it could pass as weakness. He’s short-tempered, but he knows when to apologize too. I’ve taught him that in the few months we’ve met.”  
“You speak so well of him…” sighed Claudia. Liz could sense some jealousy in her voice, which made the girl smile. It meant that the Princess was interested in him.  
“He’s sort of like a brother to me, and I think that because he doesn’t have sisters, he considers me one.”  
“I see…” Claudia said with a smile.

Liz finished to comb Claudia’s beautiful hair. She got close to the Princess.

“You’re lovely, Princess, and I’m not talking only about your looks,” said Liz with her hands on Claudia’s shoulders. “He’s going to be lucky to have you as his bride.”

The Princess felt a warm feeling spreading through her. Liz made her feel comfortable and she thought that her future with Lucious would be the great. For the first time since she had learned about this marriage, she felt hopeful.


	6. Chapter 6

The first three days of the festival, Lucious gallantly escorted Claudia, and they got along quite well. However, during the fourth day of the Festival, Lucious’ nightmares finally came true. Four men arrived at the castle. The first two men were very different from each other. The first one was a really tall, muscular man with a dark skin, blue eyes and gray-blueish hair. The man next to him was almost like his opposite. He was also tall — though not as tall as the first one — with pale skin, ebony hair and honey-brown eyes. 

The dark-skinned man came to Lucious as soon as he spotted him and he wrapped the prince into a headlock with one arm and ruffled his hair with his other hand in a sort of annoying big brother’s greeting/playing act.

“Ugh! Cut it out, Zeus!” demanded the Heir Prince barely breathing and unsuccessfully trying to release himself from his friend’s side headlock.  
“Yes, cut it out, King Kook,” said the other man helping Lucious.  
“Thanks, Hiro,” said the Prince coughing. “Zeus, you brute man!”

The man just chuckled.

“Who would’ve thought you’d be the first of us that would be walking down to his doom,” Zeus teased again ruffling his hair, and added with a dramatic flare “Ah, they do die young!”  
“I said to cut it out!” exclaimed Lucious slapping Zeus’ hand away.  
“Don’t be mean, Zeus,” reprimanded a third man.

In the second pair of men there were a little more similarities between each other than the first pair. They both were of the same height and they had fair white skin. The first man had a pale blue hair and matching eye colour; whilst the other man had chestnut hair and orange eyes

“Don’t need to waste your breath on a beast like him, Cerim. Zeus, either you behave or I won’t introduce you and I’ll have you thrown out the castle,” said Lucious.  
“You always say that, but you never do,” sighed Caesar with a smile as he came closer and greeted the four men.  
“This time I mean it!” replied Lucious.  
“My, my, Lucious,” said Princess Claudia getting closer to the group and with a broad smile, “who are these people?”

She had gone to the ladies room with Liz. And they both had been escorted by Colonel Drago.

“Oh, let me introduce you,” said Lucious, “Princess Claudia, these are my friends from other kingdoms: these two are from Queensblade, Zeus of House Brundle and Hiro of House Tachibana.”  
“Nice to meet you, Lords,” bowed Claudia.  
“And these are Cerim of House Leiado and Leslie of House Roseblade. They’re both from Twilight Kingdom.”

The last introduction made Liz to be covered in cold sweat. For a moment, her heart stopped, and she tried to control her breathing, since she felt like she was on the verge of a panic attack. However, the only ones who noticed this reaction were Caesar and Colonel Drago. They also noticed that from then on, Liz kept her head down the whole time and only talked if only spoken to.

“Are you enjoying the festival, Princess?” asked Cerim.  
“Yes, people are being quite nice and the events are incredible,” replied Claudia.

Liz went to the bathroom for the fifth time. Fearing that something was wrong, Caesar wanted to go after her, but he had promised Lucious that as soon as Zeus showed up, his real job as his guardian would begin. However, there was someone who followed her.

The girl went to some bushes, and hiding her face against the trunk of a tree, she wept uncontrollably. She really shouldn’t have accepted to take care of Princess Claudia, but little had she known that Lucious was friends with people from Twilight. Lucious had mentioned that he was friends with lords from other kingdoms, but she never imagined that Twilight would be one of them, especially because it was very far away from Nighttime.

She cried because she wanted to leave, but she couldn’t abandon Claudia. So far, the Princess had been nice to her and she also had gotten attached to Liz really quickly. However, when Lucious introduced them to Cerim and Leslie, the girl couldn’t stop thinking in Willem, and it made her heart ache. 

“Are you all right?” asked a voice behind her.

Startled, she turned around. Colonel Drago had followed her. Some people might’ve thought that the Colonel was being rude and would’ve told him to stop meddling into their business. However, Liz had always had a knack to read people’s hearts and, despite not showing it, she could see that he was worried for her.

“Colonel! I was just…” she couldn’t finish. 

She dried her tears and forced a smile.

“Yes, I’m fine, Colonel. Thank you for asking, you’re very kind.” she replied not meeting his gaze.

He narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t think you’re fine.”  
“It’s nothing, Sire,” she said with a sad smile and trying to pass him.

The Colonel, however, grabbed her arm the moment she was passing next to him.

“Colonel?”  
“Be careful. Don’t go wandering far away from the group,” he said.

Then he let her go. Liz realized he had been extremely worried about her and smiled politely at him. The Colonel walked behind her as a way to escort her.

The sun had set and the moon was rising. The girl looked at it and wondered what her beloved might be doing.

* * *

Willem was feeling terrible. As summer began, he realized that not only was he missing Liz’s joyful and soothing spirit, but his body was craving for what he had gotten used to with her. At first, he reprehended his own body for that, and did his best to try to ignore it, but at the same time understood it. It had been like he suddenly had stopped eating. At some point, your stomach would growl out of hunger. Therefore, he had opted for starting to release some of his stamina himself in the privacy of his room. However, his body was really craving for a woman’s company.

After a whole day going to Reitz to supervise the project, he decided to change into his commoner’s clothes and paid a visit to a… sort of old friend.

“Hi, Flora.”  
“Hello, Prince. Long time no see,” greeted back the woman named Flora. 

The woman was red-haired with green eyes. She looked like she was in her mid-thirties. She was a beauty, but to the Prince’s eyes, Liz had been far more beautiful.

“It hasn’t been that long,” said the prince dismissively looking at the place.  
“More than half year,” said Flora in a reproachful manner. “Almost an entire year I would dare to say…”

The room was a little bedroom with a few extra furniture to make people linger a little bit more if they wanted to, or to do something else if they pleased. There was a fruit plate and a jar next to it. Willem knew it was filled with one of the best wines in the entire kingdom since many noblemen came to the establishment.

Willem walked into the room and sat on the couch. The woman immediately served him a goblet of wine. The prince took it and drank it in one gulp. She refilled it again and the process repeated for at least four more times.

“You seem thirsty tonight, Sire,” she said refilling his cup again, but this time, Willem took only a sip and left the rest on the table next to him. 

“Perhaps you’re also hungry?” she asked him offering the fruit plate.

The prince shook his head.

“Or perhaps you’re hungry of something else,” she said seductively.

She leaned on him and tried to kiss him, but Willem stopped her. She was stunned; the prince hardly ever resisted her charms. He got up and walked to the bed. He undressed himself and lied down on the bed.

Flora thought his behavior was strange. Prince Willem had been his favorite so far because whenever the prince came over, he would try to enact what people would do in a relationship. First, he would bring Flora some present and he’d have let her kiss him passionately. They would engage in some foreplay before going into the act itself, and during this, he would allow her to undress him little by little, and vice versa. However, tonight he seemed urged to do it.

 _Well, guess he was urged to do it since it’s been almost a year since his last visit_ , thought Flora.

She undressed herself and she climbed on top of him. She tried to kiss him again, but he turned his face at the last moment and she kissed him on the cheek instead. Then she tried to kiss and nip his ear, but the prince pushed her away. 

“Not tonight, Flora,” he said not looking at her. “Just stick to your job, all right?”

She was hurt. She couldn’t believe it. The Prince had never made her feel like her other clients, like she was an object. That was another part of why she had Willem in high-esteem. Still, maybe he was just having a bad day.

“As you wish, my prince,” she said with a smile.

Then she kissed his neck and then trailed a path of kisses down his body. The prince must have been repressing himself for so long, because by the time she got to his member, it was fully erected. 

“Am I that good, My Prince?” she teased him.  
“Don’t talk,” he ordered.

Indeed the prince was acting strange. He had his eyes closed and was panting waiting for her to put his member inside her. As soon as she did, she started to move up and down and kept staring at Willem. In the past, he’d have his eyes wide open delighting his sight with Flora’s body. But now he refused to look at her and it seemed like he was repressing himself from screaming because he also had his teeth clenched. Why?

When the Prince finished inside her, Flora climbed down from his body and went to wash herself immediately. The prince still had his eyes shut and still was panting when she closed the door of her washing room.

By the time Flora got out, the Prince had already left. That was also an odd behaviour, since he normally would’ve stayed over, though not all night, but at least for another round. Flora wondered what had happened. 

* * *

Vain, who was accomplishing his shadow status, followed the prince to Flora’s establishment and then back to the palace. He saw the prince entering his chamber and slamming the door shut. He sighed having a pretty good idea with what had the prince upset.

* * *

Willem slammed the door of his bedroom and his washing room as well. He undressed and threw his clothes to a pile reserved only for the clothes he wanted to dispose of for good. He put a lot of perfume into the water and entered into his bath pool and started to wash himself thoroughly. He felt disgusted with himself. What made him think that a replacement could work? And especially a professional escort? What he had told Liz that she wasn’t because he knew very well that those women were very different. He remembered that he had closed his eyes and tried to pretend it wasn’t Flora, but Liz who was kissing him and who had been with him tonight. That futile attempt was what made it worse. However, there was a part of him that he knew better and that’s why he had repressed himself of screaming her name when he released what he had been holding up.

After getting very cleaned on the outside, Willem reentered his bedroom. He took Liz’s nightgown from the drawer and smelled it and his heart ached. Her scent had started to fade. Day by day the smell of her was vanishing and Willem thought he’d cry her loss all over again when her aroma was gone for good as well. He clutched it and breathed in harder. Faint, but still there. He put it back believing that if he slept with it, her scent would soon be replaced with his.

He went back to his bed and shed a few tears feeling like a scum, like he had cheated on her. He wept knowing that if Liz ever had done with another man what he did with Flora, his heart wouldn’t be able to take it. The sole thought made him feel miserable and despicable, because he also knew that Liz would never do what he had done if things were the way around.

* * *

Liz felt miserable. When she returned with the group, Cerim and Leslie were talking about Twilight Kingdom. They described it as a paradise and Claudia mentioned she had wanted to visit it for a long time and meet the princes again, since she had only been there when she was just a little girl.

“Ah, the Princes!” exclaimed Cerim clicking his tongue.  
“They’re quite nice, except for the third Prince,” commented Leslie, “The third one is a pompous smug.”

Liz kept quiet, she didn’t know if she wanted to cry or to laugh. After all, it had been the first impression she had of Felix. However, she knew best that he’d turned his behavior around and even the staff had seen a change in the youngest prince.

“I’ve heard from a good source, that His Highness is no longer like that,” mentioned Cerim. “Something happened during the past months that has made the dynamics inside the palace quite different.”  
“How so?” asked Zeus.  
“I don’t know,” commented Leslie, “since the King left, people, not even nobility, weren’t allowed to enter the palace grounds again. And something must have happened a few months ago that the security got even tighter since no one was allowed to leave the palace as well.”

 _Felix’s attack_ , she thought. 

“Well, whatever,” said Lucious. “Let’s not talk about them, it’ll be hard enough to have more people representing each one of your countries.”

Liz wanted to ask who was going to come from the Twilight Kingdom but that would bring too much attraction and questioning.

They kept walking and enjoying the festival. Without noticing it, Cerim and Leslie placed themselves at each of Liz’s sides. 

“Hello,” greeted Cerim.  
“Lord Cerim, Lord Leslie,” she greeted with a smile.  
“Whilst you were in the ladies room, Lucious mentioned that you’re from Twilight,” commented Leslie.  
“Umm, yes, I am,” she said. “I recently moved here.”  
“Why?” asked Leslie.  
“Well… I…”  
“Forgive my friend,” apologized Cerim, “he tends to ask more than he’s allowed to. Though, I have to admit that it’s surprising considering that there haven’t been too many people that on their own free will decide to move out of our kingdom.”  
“And actually, we have so many people trying to live _in_ our kingdom,” mentioned Leslie.  
“And they don’t usually come this afar and to a completely different place, with a different culture,” added Cerim.  
“Well, I…” she gulped and kept quiet.

Cerim could tell that she was in distress, but he didn’t depict her as a bad woman, so he imagined that her story was just… complicated.

“Well, like I said before, it’s not our place to question you,” continued Cerim. “We just wanted to extend out our friendship so you might have a reason to come back one day.”

The young man smiled at her gently. Liz felt a lump in her throat. She wanted to thank him, but she had the words stuck in her throat. The only thing she could do was to weakly smile to them.

Back in the castle, Liz waited for the Princess to fall asleep. She couldn’t sleep in the fancy room that Lucious had provided for her and that was just a room away from Princess Claudia’s. She walked down a dark corridor and then arrived at one of the many balconies that had one of the most spectacular sights of the Nighttime Kingdom. 

She was impressed by it, but Cerim and Leslie were right. Nothing could compare to Twilight Kingdom. The beauty there was breathtaking. However, Nighttime Kingdom wasn’t so bad and she could imagine herself building a life there. What she couldn’t imagine was herself loving another man again. 

A sudden breeze made her body shiver. She crossed arms and rubbed them trying to warm herself. 

“You should go back to your room if you’re cold,” said a voice behind her.

This time, Liz recognized the voice. It was the Colonel.

“I’m just… not comfortable in my room,” she answered.  
“I take you’re not comfortable with fancy things,” he observed.

She smiled. Then Colonel Drago approached her and took off his cloak and put it on her shoulders in a chivalry gesture.

“Thank you, Sir.”

He nodded and he rubbed her arms with the cloak so she could get warm faster. Liz let him because she could tell he was worried for her.

“There,” he said when he noticed she stopped shivering, “much better, isn’t it?”  
“Yes, thank you, but aren’t you going to get cold?”  
“Don’t worry, as a trained military man, I can practically get by in almost any environment.”  
“I’m jealous you can do that,” Liz sighed.

He smiled at her. For most people, that smile would be easily mistaken as a serious expression, but Liz could see a faint smile and his eyes glimmered with joy. She smiled as well. The Colonel forgot to breathe for a second. That smile had a power he had never seen in another woman. He felt the impulse of leaning on her, but he fought it. A part of his brain told him that he’d scare her if he did, so he refrained to do so. Instead, he gulped and averted his gaze.

“I am prepared to be in any environment, but you should try to be in a warmer place,” he remarked. “Come.”

Then he grabbed her hand and led her to the most wonderful place she had seen in the castle so far: The library.

There was no librarian, so they entered and sat beside a fire. Each one in their own chair decided to take some rest. Liz started to feel the fatigue taking over her, but still she was enchanted by the library’s size and the books piling up in practically each bookcase and corner.

“What is it?” asked the Colonel a little puzzled.  
“Libraries are my favourite places in the entire world,” she said with a sigh.  
“You like to read?”  
“Very much.”

The Colonel smiled. 

“Well, I guess this is a public library since the door is always opened, so I think you can read as many books as you’d like.”  
“That’d be fantastic, but… I can’t, at least until I finish my job as Princess Claudia’s lady-in-waiting.”

Being Princess Claudia’s lady-in-waiting had taught Liz that Willem had spoiled her. With Claudia, not only she had had to keep her company, but she seemed like the kind of Princess accustomed to have everything done for her. True that her main job was to supervise what other maids did for the princess, but she had to be careful for that same reason. She bathed, fetched her drinks and food, read her any book she wanted to be read to, and to be sure that all her clothes were impeccable at all times. She wasn’t a tyrant or any of the sort. On the contrary, Liz thought her to be quite a delicate and sweet girl, but she was just… a princess.

Liz remembered the time when Willem asked her to marry him, to be the princess and future queen… A part of her knew she couldn’t be like Princess Claudia. But then again, Willem wasn’t like any other royal member she had known so far. None of the Twilight Princes were. She remembered that neither Felix nor Lacan had a lady-in-waiting, or like in the case of Lucious and Caesar, a play-mate.

“That’s right, you don’t work in the castle,” said the Colonel remembering that Prince Lucious mentioned Liz would only be the Princess’ lady-in-waiting until the festivities of their marriage started.

They were walking down a hallway talking. The Colonel seemed to look for every opportunity to have a word with her.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I work in a Tea House.”  
“Then where did you learn all this stuff you’ve got to do as a lady-in-waiting?”  
“I was taught by Prince Lucious’ other servants,” she replied.   
“I see…”

They talked for a very long time. Liz learned a lot of the Colonel, and even once made him laugh, which was quite rare, but she had no way of knowing it.

“Well, I suppose I should go to bed since tomorrow will be a busy day, too,” she said when she realized they had spent a long time together.  
“I suppose so.”  
“Good night, Colonel,” she said handing him his cloak back. “And thank you, it’s been a pleasure talking to you.”   
“Likewise, Miss Liz.”

She smiled and then he felt again the urge of leaning on her and kiss her, but again he repressed himself.

The girl turned around and just when she was about to leave, the Colonel called her.

“Miss Liz!”  
“Yes…?”  
“When you finish your job and you’ve got to return home, could I please accompany you? Just to make sure you’re safe?”

The girl was puzzled by this, but then she felt no harm in his attitude. Therefore, she smiled again and nodded. This time the Colonel smiled broadly, though there was no one there to see him.

Liz went to her room thinking that she had been lucky to find such good people around, especially when she needed them most. However, she reprehended herself for keep having her thoughts drifting off to the Crown Prince of Twilight Kingdom. Despite this she went to bed, wishing that he was well and feeling bad for the idea of letting him believe that she was dead.

Liz was no fool. She realized soon after arriving the kingdom that they must’ve thought Liz was dead, especially since Officer Rex wouldn’t have been able to find her amongst the people in the lifeboats. As part of his duties, he’d have to report that she was either missing or death, and since the Prime Minister had been the one disposing of her, he would be the first one to receive the letter. 

That’s one of the reasons why she’d thought at first to write the letter that explained to Willem what happened and to assure him that she was okay.

But she had changed her mind after hearing those noblemen talking about that royal scandal. And she assumed that, in his last attempt to protect his nephew, the Prime Minister would’ve probably informed Willem that she was dead, so that Willem could move on and find a new and more suitable woman to be the queen.

“Willem, my love… Please, marry soon, so I’ll be able to move on as well…”

* * *

The next morning, Willem woke up and before going to Reitz, he stopped by Flora’s establishment.

“Hello, Your Highness,” she greeted him rather coldly.  
“Hello, Flora, I came to apologize to you,” he said.  
“Apologize? Why? After all, I only did my job,” she rebuked.

Willem sighed, he must’ve known her attitude by now, but aside from Liz, Willem had really problems reading women’s behaviour.

“I know I said that, Flora, but I’m truly sorry for how I treated you last night. I shouldn’t have done that.”  
“But you weren’t wrong, Sire, you said the truth.”  
“It doesn’t matter. What I said and did was not nice.”  
“True… for the first time, you were cold and rough. I thought you weren’t that kind of man.”  
“What kind of man?”   
“You know, what most noblemen are… You always behaved different than them…”

Willem looked sad. Liz had told him once that what she’d liked about him at was that she never realized he was royalty at first, not because he was rude or anything, but on the contrary, because he’d been too polite and caring from the beginning towards her, a commoner.

“Anyway, you don’t have to worry, Prince, but you came and didn’t pay. Normally, I’d be making a scandal of a royal who didn’t pay, but I know you just slipped it from your mind…?”

The Prince again stared at her with disappointment and anger. He really forgot that this was Flora’s job. He took out a small bag filled with gold coins and lunes and put it on the table.

“There, I paid you. Good day,” he said icily.

Now Flora realized she’d crossed the line. She went to him and grabbed his arm.

“Prince, forgive me. It’s just… you really got me out of my game last night. I was just…”  
“But I came to apologize, and you continued with that attitude.”  
“I know, but I’m still mad, Prince. Your attitude last night…”  
“I don’t want to keep talking about last night! I came and apologized and I paid,” he said. “I’ll see you another time, unless you don’t want me to, in which case, I’m sure I can manage one of the other girls or another establishment can meet my expectations.”  
“No, Prince, of course not. You’re always welcome here, and I’m glad to be at your service as well…”  
“Well, good day, then,”

Then he turned around and left the place. Flora saw him leaving and, then again, she thought the Prince was acting extremely weird.


	7. Chapter 7

The day of Lucious and Claudia’s wedding was approaching faster, and in a blink of an eye, it was only a week before the start of the celebrations for their wedding. Claudia was excited by this time. Just like Liz with Willem, Claudia had found that she was in love with Prince Lucious. 

Claudia was also excited because, according to her, her best friend would be coming a little bit earlier than anticipated. 

“Who?” Liz had asked.  
“Zenobia! Well, Queen Zenobia, the ruler of Queensblade,” she had answered excitedly. “Oh, Liz, I really want to introduce you and Lucious to her.”  
“Me?”  
“Yes, you’ve been a good friend too!”  
“But Princess, I’m not —”  
“Whatever you’re going to say, let me stop you before you say it. You’re a good girl and many people appreciate you, including me.”

That was true. People had shown their appreciation in many ways. Lucious and his group of friends had included her in all their activities, but she had thought that it was because she was like a fresh commoner air, since all of them were nobility. Though Claudia was invited as well, her royal background didn’t see it proper, and she thought it best not to spend that much time with boys. However, Liz didn’t mind this at all, and Claudia knew about this, too. She had even let Liz to known that she wished she was more care free like her, but Liz dismissed this comment as an exaggeration from the princess.

“Soon all the people from other Kingdoms shall arrive to congratulate us. Ambassadors from their own countries shall be staying with us here in the Palace during the festivities, so I’d like you to meet those who are dear to me like Zenobia and Hinoe, and also my other cousins, Alfonse’s brothers.”  
“Princess… could I ask who’s coming from the other Kingdoms?”  
“I don’t know exactly. Why?”  
“No reason,” she said.

Claudia didn’t pick on Liz’s behaviour.

“Liz, I hope you enjoy the festivities,” she said with a smile.  
“Well… Princess, I must remind you that I’m just a commoner and my job is already ending. Prince Lucious has already told me he’s found someone more suitable for you to be your lady-in-waiting.”  
“Hush now and don’t lie,” she said a little angry, “Lucious never used the word ‘suitable’. In fact, he said he found your replacement since you clarified him that you were supposed to only have this job as temporary.”  
“You’re right. My apologies, Your Highness, but you should know that it’s not that I don’t enjoy your company, but I really need to get back and help my friends at the Tea House.”  
“I know. But I hope that you know you’ll still be welcome here.”  
“Thank you, Princess.”  
“But you’ll still come to our wedding’s festivities, right?”  
“Umm…”   
“You have to come!” Demanded the princess.  
“It’s not my place…”  
“It’s not your place to refuse,” she corrected Claudia, “you’ll be insulting Lucious and me if you don’t accept our invitation.”  
“I don’t have a dress, Your Highness,” she argued.  
“I’ll provide all the dresses you need.”  
“I don’t have a partner.”  
“Neither Zenobia nor Hinoe, that doesn’t matter for us.”

Liz was running out of options, and the Princess was right. It’d be extremely rude to decline their invitation. Still she was uncertain to attend for a specific reason.

“It’s just that I’d feel bad that everybody saw me, a commoner, to attend such a fancy event…”  
“Well, the events are masquerades. So no one shall know that you’re a commoner. You can leave your mask on even after midnight, if it makes you feel better.”  
“What?”  
“Didn’t you know? It’s customary that the first three days are mask balls; our wedding day is a black and sky blue party to celebrate the union of our two kingdoms; and the other three days after our wedding is supposed to be a love declaration celeb. You’re going to love those. People can wear masks or not. But many noblemen ask for our blessing to have their own marriages or engagements recognized.”  
“That’s lovely.”  
“Isn’t it? So what do you say?”

Liz thought it for a moment. She didn’t know what she’d do for the wedding, but at least her identity would be concealed during the first three celebrations. She supposed that as long as she could hide her face, there shouldn’t be any problem at all.  
  
“Very well, Princess. I’d gladly join you and the Prince.”  
“Seriously?”

Claudia was practically jumping out of excitement. She said she wanted to rest a little before receiving her friends, so she dismissed Liz for the moment. This gave the girl an opportunity. She went to the gardens where she knew the boys would be playing. There it was Cerim sitting on a table, drinking tea whilst watching the rest of the group practicing their archery with Leslie.

“Lord Cerim, may I have a word with you?”  
“We’ve already told you. You can drop the honorifics, Liz,” said Cerim, “Neither Leslie nor I don’t like formalities when we’re out of Twilight Kingdom. It seems that if we call you ‘Liz’ and not ‘Miss Liz’, then it’s only fair that you’d call us just by our names.”  
“Very well, I’ll try to do it next time.”  
“Yes, that would probably be better,” commented Cerim, gesturing with his hand that she could have a seat.  
“Thank you.”  
“What is it that you want to discuss?”  
“I was just wondering, who else might be coming to Prince Lucious and Princess Claudia’s wedding?”  
“From our Kingdom?”

She nodded. Cerim thought this to be an odd question, but decided to answer it anyway. 

“It’s hard to say. Anyone could come. From the King himself to a random officer or nobleman.”  
“Make a guess, please.”  
“Well, like I said, it could be the King or either one of the Princes. It could also be any of the soldiers with a high rank, such as General Smith or Captain Vincent. Really it could be anyone.”  
“The Prime Minister?” She ventured to ask.  
“No, he wouldn’t come. His post is tied to Castle in the Sky. He cannot leave it at all.”  
“But you also said any nobleman?”  
“Or woman,” he added. “It could also happen that a letter arrives telling us that either Leslie or me shall be the representatives since we’re nobility as well.”  
“I see.”  
“Don’t worry. Whatever happens, they’d be glad to meet a fellow citizen.”  
“I’d prefer if you didn’t introduce us. I don’t… feel worthy,” she said.  
“What are you talking about?”  
“Nothing. Just forget I said anything.”  
“Liz…”  
“Hey, it occurs to me that just like Princess Claudia, you might be expecting more people from Prince Lucious’ group. I mean, your friends’ group?”

She wanted to change the topic quickly.

“No. This is it for us. Zeus, Hiro, Alfonse, Caesar, Leslie and me. Alfonse’s brothers sometimes tag along, but we’re not their favourite people, especially because of Zeus who is really boisterous. Alfonse’s brothers can’t tolerate his attitude.”

She giggled.

“What a shame!” she said sarcastically.

Cerim, like many others before him, loved to see her smile. He really wanted to ask her more specifically about why she decided to leave the Kingdom, but every time either Leslie or him tried to bring out the subject, she changed her attitude and stopped speaking, which made the rest of the group go mad at the person who made personal questions to Liz in the first place.

“I’d like to try to learn some archery,” she said watching Leslie’s perfect aim.  
“You should try it. Leslie’s the best for that. If you’re interested in fencing as well, I can teach it to you.”  
“Really?”  
“Yes, Who knows when it could be helpful, right?”  
“Right! Then I shall ask Leslie to teach me,” she said. “And I shall ask you to teach me fencing later.”  
“It’ll be my pleasure.”

She went merrily to Leslie’s side, who immediately handed her his bow and started the lessons. Cerim watched them and, soon, he was joined by Lucious, Caesar and Alfonse in the refreshing area.

“Leslie’s happy teaching her,” said Caesar, drying the sweat of his forehead.  
“And Zeus and Hiro are competing to get her attention,” laughed Alfonse watching the two of them fighting whilst Liz was focused on what Leslie was teaching her.

The rest of them laughed as well. They never noticed a shadow figure in the distance that was watching the group with a frown, especially to one member of this group in particular.

As soon as the group got tired, they retired to their rooms. However, the only one who didn’t want to go back to her room since she didn’t feel quite comfortable in it was Liz. Instead, she went to the library.

“There you are,” said a voice from afar.

She looked around and found the person that it belonged to. 

“Hello, Colonel,” she greeted with a smile.  
“Aren’t you tired after all that archery training?”  
“You saw me?”  
“It wasn’t that hard no to,” he said. Then he added averting his gaze, “You know, because you practiced in an open space.”

The girl seemed to think that the Colonel was blushing, but then he cleared his throat and when he gazed at her, Liz thought that she might imagined it because he looked calmed and composed as always. They started to talk a little, which had become a habit until Princess Claudia asked for her lady-in-waiting. Incredibly, the Colonel felt at ease with her, so he treasured every second that they spent together. And, just like their first encounter, whenever they argued Liz stood her ground until Colonel Drago admitted defeat.

This time, when Princess Claudia called for Liz, the Colonel decided to accompany her.

“Are you sure, Sire?”  
“Yes. After all, I also need to greet Queen Zenobia and Lady Hinoe, Princess Claudia’s best friends, since I’m here as one of the representatives of our Kingdom.”  
“Very well, Sire.”  
“Please, call me Drago.”

She giggled. She had never met so many people from nobility who didn’t prefer to go by the honorifics. 

The Colonel smiled at the sound of her laugh. He thought it to be the most beautiful thing in the world.

* * *

The day for Willem to leave the Kingdom had arrived. Vain was going to accompany him the whole journey. He was going to even accompany the prince to the parties. Willem wasn’t happy, but he had to go with this. Just like Felix suggested, he would try to see this as a sort of vacation and to see if a place that didn’t remind him constantly of Liz would be good for his spirits.

So far it wasn’t good. The road to the harbor was painful. Willem imagined Liz tied up and scared. She must’ve felt every bump of the carriage as a reminder of the distance between her and the palace. When he expressed this to his uncle, who was traveling with him in the carriage, he had to confess that she probably was asleep the whole time, since he had asked to have her drugged.

Willem felt the rage coming up again and as soon as they arrived at the harbor, he breathed in the salty air the sea brought. It sort of felt good to have a connection to her again, imagining that she had smelled that as well. 

When it was time to say good-bye and board the ship. He hugged his brothers, who wished him a good trip and favorable winds, however, when his uncle was next on the line, he just nodded to him, turned around with his cloak fluttering in the wind and got on the ship not even caring to see if Vain was following him.

After the ship started to move, Willem went to the deck and stood on the edge to wave good-bye to his brothers. They all had stayed to wish him a safe trip, including his brother’s guardians. He could see Hugo waving at Vain. Willem imagined this would be the first time in many years that the brothers separated. Though for Willem it wasn’t the first time he was away from his brothers, these past weeks he had been more attached to them and it made him realize that he was going to miss them.

After a few weeks on the ship, Willem started to feel even worse. The ship couldn’t be more obvious about being a royal navy ship. His cabin was a very beautiful room with a four-posted, soft bed with transparent white curtains and a big oak wardrobe. There were paintings from famous artists that were notorious because they had been sailors before. A bathroom equipped with a small bathtub, which Willem thought to be too small, only because he was accustomed to have practically a pool to bathe.

His heart ached at the idea of Liz having less than him in her last moments. If it had been within his power, he would have showered with luxury. Then Willem remembered that she wouldn’t have liked it. She was very simple in that aspect. Of course, if it had been within his power, then he definitely wouldn’t have allowed her to leave his side at all.

“Sire, we’re going to arrive just in time for the first ball,” announced Vain.  
“Great…” Willem said with a sarcastic tone.

Vain didn’t want to say anything more. The Prime Minister had made things worse for him by letting the Prince know about how they had drugged Liz in order to keep her calmed and quiet. Things were bad for him as his shadow, but not as much as now. It seemed that whatever that triggered the memory of her made the Prince furious again. He shuddered at the thought of Willem’s attitude and behaviour the day of Prince Lucious’ wedding.

* * *

The day before the first ball finally arrived, and Liz mentioned to Claudia that she was going back to the Tea House. The Princess was sad no to have her favourite lady-in-waiting at hand, but she was happy that Liz had agreed to attend to the three masquerade balls, though the girl had been quite vague about what she was going to do the actual wedding day.

“Princess Claudia, I’ll be taking my leave now,” she curtsied.  
“You’re way too formal Liz! I’ve been told by others, including Zenobia, that they’ve asked you several times to call them by their names.”

Queen Zenobia had gotten attached to Liz after spending five minutes with her. Lady Hinoe, due to her religious background, commented that probably Liz had been blessed by the gods seeing Liz's beauty and sensing her aura; whilst Queen Zenobia thought she only had a charisma that few people had. Still, it didn’t matter to either of them. To them, Liz was a sweet, charming, beautiful girl who sought to make their lives easier. They soon realized that as long as Liz was there, things seemed to be better. That’s why they didn’t want her to go.

“It’s still impossible to me not to address to you without your title, Princess. You’re too important.”

The Princess sighed. Liz was also weird. Somehow, she seemed that she really wanted to have Claudia as a friend; but there were other times when it seemed the opposite, like she didn’t want to get too close to her. Many people would feel honored, or they would take advantage to be asked by the Princess, or any noble for that matter, to be addressed without their honorifics. However, Liz refused to do so.

“I hope you arrive safely at your home, Liz. And I hope to see you tomorrow. Despite having a mask, and since you’ve also seen my dresses, I’ll be pretty easy to be found out, so I ask you that at least greet me during the events.”  
“Yes, Your Highness,” she said with a smile.  
“I’ll send you each morning the dresses you’ll be wearing for each party. Is that okay?”  
“That’s more than I deserve, Princess,” she replied.  
“Nonsense. You’ll be spectacular. I’m sorry I couldn’t get you something more remarkable.”  
“No, Ma’am. You’ve done more than enough!”  
“Oh, well,” continued Claudia like she hadn’t listened, “perhaps it’s not too notable, but at least it will appeal to your body figure. You’ll still look divine in each one of the dresses I’ve chosen for you.”  
“P-Princess… I…” she blushed.  
“Yes…?”

Liz was really thinking of telling her about she had changed her mind, but Claudia was so happy and the fact she had chosen the dresses especially for her made Liz to feel a warmth in her heart.

“I’ll make sure to greet you tomorrow,” Liz said finally.

Claudia hugged her and thanked her for everything.

She stepped down the big grand staircases. Lucious had arranged a carriage for her. She was about to open the door, when it opened itself, or rather someone opened it from the inside.

The Colonel was there with a stern expression. Liz could see that indeed he wasn’t happy. He had tried to persuade her to stay in the palace, but she stubbornly refused.

“I distinctly recall that I promised to you that I’d escort you back to your home,” he said bluntly.

Home… people had been using that word lately, but though she was more than happy to return with Nagisa and Zett, she really couldn’t call the Tea House a ‘home’ yet. At least it’d take her a little more time to do so.

The carriage stopped at the Tea House’s door. Nagisa was the first one to go and hug her as soon as he saw her. She gladly returned the hug. Zett only ruffled her hair in a loving gesture and congratulated her for a well-done job. Then the two of them helped her with her valises.

“Thank you for making sure that I arrived here safely, Colonel,” she said curtsying. 

She turned around to enter into the Tea House, but the Colonel stopped her.

“Miss Liz.”  
“Yes?”  
“I was just wondering… Could I be your escort for the next festivities?”

The girl was speechless. She never imagined that the Colonel would ask her that.

“Will you do me the honors?”  
“Colonel, I…”

Though the man had a serious expression, Liz could tell he was expectant to know her answer and a little afraid that she’d say no. He even gulped at the thought.

“Colonel, you’re the one who flatters me with that question, but I don’t think I’m suitable to be your escort.”  
“Why not?”  
“Well, for one thing I’m not a noblewoman.”  
“Colonels can bring commoners if they want to.”  
“Well, I’m not sure I’m planning to go to all events.”  
“Whatever event you plan to go, it’ll be all right.”

She sighed. 

“I really don’t want to be a nuisance to you, Sir,” she said.  
“You won’t,” he answered. But then he realized that she wasn’t very eager to the idea of attending the ball in the first place. “Look, let’s just do this step by step. You may go alone, but if it happens that we meet and I ask you for a dance…”  
“I wouldn’t refuse such an invitation, despite that I’m not a good dancer either.”  
“And perhaps escort you through the night if we happen to meet, let’s say at the entrance staircase…”

She sighed again.

“I suppose I wouldn’t refuse a gentleman trying to escort me either,” she commented.  
“Good, that’s all I ask. We can see what happens during the first night, and if everything goes right.”

She giggled and then, with a small smile, she nodded.

“Very well, Colonel, we shall see what comes the first night,” she said.

He sighed in relief. She didn’t quite accept, but she didn’t flatly reject him either.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow at the ball.”  
“Good night, Sir.”

Once she entered the Tea House a new surprise was awaiting her.

“Hisoka!”

The girl ran to the man and hugged him. Hisoka embraced her as well.

“Liz, how have you been?”  
“Very well, why didn’t you write informing about your return? Caesar would’ve come with me as well to greet you.”  
“We’ll exchange greetings tomorrow,” Hisoka said dismissively.  
“How come you returned so early?”  
“Well…”

Then he turned to the stairs where a figure was descending, Liz eyes opened wider and started panting. Tears were welling up in her eyes and her first instinct told her to run away.

“Hello, Miss Liz,” greeted Rex.


	8. Chapter 8

“Hello, Miss Liz,” greeted Rex.

Liz wanted to turn around and run to the harbor or whatever place that could take her away from there. Nagisa knowing this, grabbed her by the shoulders and whispered to her.

“Don’t worry. Breathe,” he encouraged. “Slowly breathe.”

Liz kept her gaze in Nagisa’s eyes and she did as she was told.

“Don’t worry. He’s not here to harm you or arrest you or anything of the sort.”

She gulped when she heard this. Then she started to calm herself down. Then Nagisa made her turn and face Rex.

“I’m sorry that my presence has distressed you, Miss Liz,” said Rex.  
“No, it’s not like that Rex, it’s just I thought you came to —”  
“I know,” interrupted Rex. “But I’m not here to do anything of that. I’m just so glad to see you so well at the moment.”

The girl felt overwhelmed by his sincere concern of her well-being. She grabbed Rex’s hands and squeezed them.

“Thank you.”

The officer squeezed her hands back. But then his face got a little grim.

“But, Miss Liz, I must admit that I am quite upset. Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you let me know or anyone in the kingdom that you were here? I had to report that you were dead because I never heard that you got into any lifeboat and the sea… it must have been freezing!”

She released his hands. 

“I’m sorry. It’s just — Wait a moment… How did you know I was here?”

Hisoka stepped forward clearing his throat.

“Liz, I’m sorry. It’s just that you avoided to talk about anything from your past and the conditions I found you… Well, during my journey, I arrived at Gedonelune to get more supplies and I found Officer Rex. As soon as he saw my ship, he went and asked me if by any chance I had rescued a girl on the high seas. When I told her about you, he immediately recognized you and explained to me everything that happened in your kingdom.”  
“Master Hisoka and Officer Rex arrived here last night and they told us everything as well, Liz,” added Nagisa to the explanation. “You don’t need to worry about being arrested because I told him you’re my little sister now. Therefore, he’ll have to go through me before.”  
“Thank you, Nagisa.”  
“Fortunately, I’m not interested in causing any kind of revolting,” Rex said with a smile and showing his palms to them in a sort of surrender gesture. “Can we talk, Miss Liz? Either with your friends or alone?”

Liz stared at them. Nagisa, who was behind her, grabbed her shoulders in a reassuring manner. She really trusted in all of them. She put a hand on one of Nagisa’s and said:

“I trust my friends,” she declared nodding.  
“Very well. Shall we take a seat?”

They moved immediately to one of the tables and took a seat. Nagisa brooded some tea and placed it at the center and served everyone a cup.

“Miss Liz, I’ve got so many questions,” started to say Rex, “and by what Master Hisoka mentioned, your friends may have some them too.”  
“Will you answer them?” asked Hisoka.

She nodded.

“But you have to promise me that you won’t say anything to anyone. Please! Officer Rex, if your duty cannot allow this, then I can’t say anything.”  
“I’ll keep it a secret. I promise.”  
“What do you want to know?”  
“Well, Master Hisoka has filled me in with what happened after he found you. And some boy told me about how you went missing in the first place, so I guess my first question would be, why didn’t you contact me or anyone in the Kingdom?”  
“Because you accuse me of being a traitor!”  
“Liz. I’m sorry, but I recall telling you that we thought you were innocent. Even if you hadn’t written where you were, you could at least told me that you were alive, and better yet, that you were in good hands.”  
“I thought it at first. To tell you the truth I wanted to write to Wi — to the Crown Prince and let him know that I was fine, but… I realized that it was no use because I thought it was better for you to believe that I was dead and to me to start a new life here. A clean slate you might say…”  
“Well, I understand that you wanted to start a new life, and the fact that you had been outcasted didn’t help that you felt obliged to let us know that you were okay.”  
“Yes… I’m sorry.”

Rex sighed. 

“Miss Liz, could I let the Prime Minister know that you’re at least alive?”

She shook her head vigorously. 

“No, you can’t. You promised.”  
“But, you don’t know… He asked me to take you back to the Kingdom.”  
“What?”  
“After we arrived at Gedonelune Kingdom and made sure that Luca and Nox were in good hands, I started to look for you. Not long after, I received a letter from the Prime Minister himself.”

Rex took out a small, wrinkled paper from the pocket of his jacket and handed it to Liz. The girl took it and unfolded it. The letter had the Prime Minister’s signature and urged Rex to return Liz to the castle as soon as possible. He gave no reasons, but he made it sound like an emergency.

“Why?” she asked puzzled and returning the paper to Rex.  
“I didn’t receive further instructions since I had to report your probable death,” he said pocketing it. “But I imagine the Princes, especially you-know-who might have something to do with it.”

She sighed. She imagined that Willem had probably made a big scandal over her disappearing, like the last time she tried to flee. True that this time it wasn’t her choice. However, Willem tended to take things out of proportion when something involved her.

“Please, Miss Liz, allow me to let the Prime Minister know.”

She still shook her head.

“No, please, don’t. Rex, I want to stay here. I don’t want to go back. I’ve made friends here. Good friends,” she said grabbing Nagisa’s and Hisoka’s hand in each of her hands. “If you tell him that I’m alive, then I’ll be forced to return and I can’t…”  
“Why not? It sounds like they’re going to drop the charges. You’ll be allowed to return to the Palace, to your old life…”  
“My life was just… not real…”  
“What? What are you talking about?” asked all men at the same time.  
“I just… Could I be excused? I’m not feeling well…”  
“Yes, of course,” answered Hisoka quite concerned.

She dashed out of the room and locked herself in hers. Hisoka and Nagisa sighed at the same time. Hisoka offered Rex to sleep in Caesar’s bed until he returned. 

A couple of hours later, Nagisa knocked on Liz’s door. 

“Liz, may I come in?”  
“You may…” she said opening the door.

Nagisa entered and he saw her taking back her sitting place by the windowsill and gazing at the moon. She looked like she had been crying.

“I brought you some dinner,” commented Nagisa.  
“I’m not hungry…”  
“You never are…” he sighed in disappointment, the he grinned. “However, you’re not going to make me feel bad by refusing my cooking after days of not eating it. Though it’s probably not as sophisticated as the one in Moon Castle, so I’d totally understand that you don’t want it.”  
“Of course not, Nagisa! Your cooking is the best!”  
“Then have a bite,” he said pleasingly, “Open up and say ‘Aaah’”  
“I can feed myself, Nagisa,” she said blushing and giggling.   
“If I let you feed yourself, you’ll only take two bites and that’d be it.”

Liz allowed Nagisa to feed her. She felt like being spoiled by a big sister.

“A penny for your thoughts?” asked Nagisa testing the waters.  
“What is it?”  
“What did you mean about your life wasn’t real?”

The girl sighed. She explained everything to Nagisa. She told him about her family and how she’d lived after they died. She told him about the first time she met Willem and her life in the palace. And though she purposely failed to tell her friend about her intimate relationship with the Crown Prince, she did tell him about Willem’s marriage proposal. At this point, Nagisa, who had been listening intently and had not reacted to anything she said, gasped at this piece of news. Nagisa was starting to understand now. Liz had felt her life in the palace to be a lie because she wasn’t used to the luxuries the palace had or to be treated like a lady, which was how everybody treated her in Castle in the Sky.

“But Liz, by what you’re telling me, it seems the Crown Prince is really in love with you,” Nagisa observed. “Don’t you love him as well?”  
“It’s because I love him that I must stay away!”  
“What are you saying? You don’t make any sense!”  
“Nagisa, do you remember the royal scandal that happened shortly after I arrived here?”  
“You mean about the Count and the servant?”

She nodded. Then it hit Nagisa where she was going. He let out a sigh.

“Liz, I’m sure he’ll gladly renounce to his throne than to renounce —”

She shook her head. 

“Willem is better off without me, Nagisa,” she said with tears in her eyes. “He’s destined to be a great king. I know he is. He can’t renounce the throne for me, and I’m not fit to be either a princess or a queen.”

She sobbed and Nagisa hugged her.

“I love him so much that I cannot let myself to stand between him and his kingdom,” she said sobbing.  
“You’re a much stronger woman than I ever thought,” he said rubbing her back.

After Liz said she was full, Nagisa decided to leave her alone so she could sleep and went to the boys’ room and informed Hisoka that although he couldn’t explain everything to them, he told them about Liz having a good and personal reason to not to return to Twilight Kingdom.

“I think you should respect her wishes, Officer Rex,” advised Nagisa.  
“I’d still like to let people know that she’s fine. People must be devastated about her death, and I feel responsible for reporting her death when I had no proof of it.”  
“I could probably persuade her to let some people know,” Naggisa suggested rubbing his chin with his finger, “I suppose that what terrifies her is that any royal member discovers her whereabouts, especially the Crown Prince.”  
“If you could do that, I’d really be in your debt.”  
“No worries. She’s stubborn, but good at heart; she probably would like to let someone else know.”  
“Yes, I hope so too,” commented Rex.  
“She just doesn’t want anything to do with royalty,” said Nagisa.   
“In that aspect, she and Caesar are very similar,” mentioned Zett. “It’s like they don’t want to enter into that world despite the constant invitations.”  
“Whilst there are people who would love to have those kind of opportunities,” said Hisoka. “Caesar and Liz know what would really mean if they stepped into that world. That’s why they run away from it.”   
“True…”  
“But, I really feel bad for Prince Willem, though,” said Rex. “It seems like he did something to make the Prime Minister change his mind. And I have to admit that, in that moment, it looked like an impossible thing to do. I know that at least General Smith and Captain Vincent tried, but had no success.”  
“Anyway, I’ll ask her tomorrow about letting a non-royal person to know about that she’s alive and well.”  
“Thank you.”

They all decided to go to sleep. When Nagisa returned to the room he shared with Liz, he saw her in a deep sleep. He caressed her hair in a brother-like manner and then realized that she had fallen asleep after crying again. The marks the tears left on her face were unmistakable.

* * *

“Prince Willem. Welcome to our humble castle,” greeted Prince Lucious when he was announced of the Twilight Crown Prince’s arrival.  
“It’s good to see you after so long, Prince Lucious,” replied Willem with a bow. “You’ve grown into quite a man.”  
“You flatter me,” said Lucious as part of their good manners exchange. “You seem smaller since the last day I saw you.”

Willem chuckled. He knew the Prince was being sarcastic.

“This is Vain, my guardian.”

Lucious made a small bow with his head to acknowledge Vain’s presence, whilst the guardian fell on one knee as a respectful greeting to the Crown Prince of Nighttime.

“I’m sorry my father couldn’t come to greet you, but he’s been indisposed and he’s on bed rest.”  
“I hope that he gets better soon, especially for your wedding ceremony.”  
“We’ll see…”

They remained in silence for a minute not knowing what else to say to each other, until Lucious as a host had to break it.

“If I had known that you were to arrive at this hour, I’d have prepared a grand meal, Sire.”  
“No need. As a matter of fact the voyage was very long and I’m a little tired.”  
“Very well, I’ll have someone to show you and your guardian to your rooms.”

In that moment a butler passed by and showed the Prince his room and his guardian another room that was just a door away from him.

“Would you like some dinner, Sire?” asked the butler. 

The Prince nodded. The butler bowed and left the room to order a meal for the Prince.

“Are you staying in your room, Prince?” asked Vain.  
“You don’t need to explore the castle, Vain. Tomorrow we’ll have breakfast with all the royalty of the neighboring kingdoms. They’ll probably give us a tour, since I’m not the only one that’s coming late to the party.”  
“Very well, Sire.”

Willem went out to the balcony and breathed in the cold air from the kingdom. Vain looked at him for a moment. He had felt a shift in the Prince’s attitude as soon as they arrived in the castle. Before Lucious entered the room Willem seemed like anxious. He kept looking around like he was searching for something. As soon as Lucious entered and spoke, Willem turned his attention to him, but still it seemed like his mind was wandering somewhere else. Vain had no idea if he had to worry since it was the first time he’d seen him like that in months. Last time this had happened was when Liz was in the castle and he wanted to find her. The result hadn’t been pleasant, because they had found her in the kitchens with the second prince in the most awkward and suggestive position.

The Prince leaned on the railing. There was something funny that happened to him when he entered the Nighttime Palace. The scent he perceived was… intoxicating. The moment he stepped in, he felt several emotions at once. He felt uneasy, pleased, aroused, at peace… many different emotions at once. Why? Was it because no matter he went, anything would trigger his memory? 

“Prince, dinner is served,” called Vain from inside.  
“I’ll be there in a minute,” said Willem.

He looked at the moon and he remembered the first night he saw Liz on his balcony. He remembered that the sight of her had been breathtaking. 

* * *

The next day, Nagisa spoke with Liz again. He explained to Liz it’d be really ungrateful from her part not to let know her status to the people who had shown kindness and had extended their friendship to her in the past. Liz thought about it for a moment and resolved to write to General Smith, Captain Vincent and Amelia. Rex felt relieved that she was allowing him to tell the General and Captain.

Whilst she was writing the letters that Rex was supposed to take with him, Nagisa interrupted her.

“A package has arrived for you,” he said leaving the package on Liz’s bed.

After she finished writing them, she opened the package and both, she and Nagisa, were surprised at its contents. 

It was from Princess Claudia. Just as she promised, she had sent a beautiful, elegant, long flowing cerise colour dress. There were some golden tangled vines and flowers on the chiffon part of the dress. Nagisa took it out of the package and Liz saw that it was as though the front was a halter cleavage, the dress was open back. The package also included long sleeve, golden gloves; a beautiful golden mask, that though it only covered the area of her eyes, it would be still hard for people to realize who she was. This gave her enough courage to go to the ball without people realizing she was a commoner.

Inspecting the package, Nagisa also found a small wooden box inside. He didn’t need to open it to recognize that it was a jewelry box. Still not being able to restrain his curiosity, he opened it and he gasped at its content. Liz peeked over his shoulder and she had the same reaction.

Inside it, there was a beautiful diamond necklace. But the diamonds were silver, so it didn’t match with the dress. She saw a note with Claudia’s handwriting in it.

_“Dear, Liz. This might be an odd diamond necklace to you. This necklace is actually a replica from an old Dragonkin’s treasure. Since you come from Twilight Kingdom, I thought it to be appropriate. However, this is to be worn with another dress that I shall be sending to you the next days. I hope to see you at the ball.”_

Liz sighed at the note. 

“Well, at least I don’t have to wear it tonight,” she observed.  
“Liz, are you sure about going there?” asked Nagisa.  
“I promised to Princess Claudia,” she replied.  
“That doesn’t answer my question.”  
“Look. All I have to do is to go these balls and then, everything might be back to normal. You know, me serving tea and cleaning tables.”  
“I still think you could be a good princess,” said Nagisa.

The girl froze.

“Please don’t say that…”

He lowered his head. Then he let out a long sigh. 

“Well, for now, let’s open the Tea House, and work as a normal day. And after lunch, let’s prepare yourself for that ball. Is that all right?”  
“Really?”  
“Yes, you have to allow me to do your hair and to dress you properly,” he said with a smile.

She giggled at this. She was really glad that Nagisa was there for her.


	9. Chapter 9

The carriage that took her to the palace was sent by the Princess too. Liz was dashingly beautiful. When Hisoka, Zett and Rex saw her, they all dropped their jaws in amazement. Nagisa had made her a crown braid and he had curled up the loose part of it and made it look like genuine locks. No one would tell her hair was straight. He had done this as a favour to Liz, since the girl felt a little self-conscious as how the dress was revealing in the back.

When the carriage stopped at the front gates, the girl stepped down from it and started to climb the stairs. At the top of the stairs, she saw a masked man with a white cloak and black old-fashioned soldier clothes. Liz recognized it was Colonel Drago. His mask was also black and white. He extended his hand in a chevalier manner, and she put her hand on his. He grabbed it, leaned forward and gently kissed the back of her hand.

“May I have the pleasure to escort you?” he asked.  
“I’ll be honored, Sir. May I please ask you to take me to greet Princess Claudia and Prince Lucious?”  
“I was asked to do so as soon as I spotted you.”

He led her to the ball room with her hand wrapped in his, which made the Colonel feel like one of the luckiest men in the world.

* * *

Willem was leaning on one of the crystal doors that led to the gardens, and he had a goblet of wine in his hands. He was wearing a large, broad-brimmed plumed cavalier hat that successfully covered his horns and the way it pressed his hair covered his pointy ears; and he had a long cloak that concealed his tail. His clothes as well as his hat were in a burgundy colour. He also was wearing a golden mask that covered half of his upper face.

“My Prince, you need to go and greet Prince Lucious and Princess Claudia.”

Vain, unlike Willem, was wearing his silver metallic mask that covered the lower part of his face. His dark-pink hair was loose for once and he was wearing a sort of elegant ranger clothes with a waist-length cape.

Willem glared at Vain and, for the first time, he decided to do what his servant told him. He emptied his cup with one gulp and went immediately to greet the hosts of the ball. He greeted them and made a small conversation with them. Claudia even congratulated him, because no one would guess about who he is by concealing so well his Dragonkin features. Willem thanked her and allowed other people to do the courtesy to greet them as well. Just as he was halfway to go back to the window, he froze.

“Sire?” asked Vain noticing the change of behaviour the Prince was having.

He looked around like a sailor who had heard the beautiful voice of a siren calling him, but he couldn’t figure out where it came from. Only it wasn’t his ears hearing the strange music, but rather he had sensed something in the air.

* * *

Liz had just walked through the doors escorted by Colonel Drago. They lined up to greet Lucious and Claudia. As soon as the Princess saw her, she recognized her. Though at first, Liz curtsied and spoke with a formal speech. Claudia hugged her and congratulated herself for choosing a suitable dress for her. Lucious also made a comment that she was beautiful, but he gave credit to his future wife for choosing the dress.

Liz thanked both of them, and they immediately drove their attention to the man escorting her. Claudia admitted that she was impressed that Colonel Drago had decided to choose Liz as his partner, since the Princess had thought that the Colonel wasn’t that of fond of Liz, but inspecting his behaviour better and the way he gazed at the girl, Claudia was afraid of something else.

Then Colonel Drago bowed to them and asked Liz to dance with him. A new dance was about to start and they took a place in a Grand March to participate in the dance. Though for a few moments Liz had to dance with other men, since it was a group dance, in the end she danced only with the Colonel, who held her close to him.

After the dance, Claudia took Liz by the elbow and dragged her to a corner for a moment.

“I think he likes you,” the Princess said in a low voice.  
“What?! No way! He’s just being nice.”  
“Believe me, Liz. I’ve known the Colonel for a very long time and he’s never been the kind of man who escorts a lady, much less to ask her to dance. He’s never been a dancing man!”  
“You’re imagining things!”  
“I don’t think so!” but then she sighed. Liz looked like she didn’t want to believe her. “Anyway, just be careful because he’s not a man who takes ‘No’ for an answer.”

The Colonel got closer and asked Liz for another dance, grabbed her hand without waiting for an answer and led her to the dance floor.

It was in that moment that Willem’s eyes rested on the girl with the cerise and golden dress. Her beautiful, chestnut hair and honey-brown eyes were the first things that caught his eyes. Her white skin and her height… Impossible! But then again, this scent…

This time it was a Quadrille, so they again danced with other couples. During this time, Liz had the faint idea that she was being observed, but since a lot of eyes were on the dancers, it was hard for her to figure out if her instinct was right.

As soon as the dance finished, a man went to her and asked for a dance, which she accepted immediately as soon as she realized who he was. The mask he was wearing only concealed half of his face. The left half, to be more precise.

“Are you having fun?” asked Caesar making the steps for a waltz, which was precisely what the musicians were playing.  
“Yes, I’ve got to admit I am.”  
“That’s good.”  
“Hisoka’s here,” she said. “I mean, here in the Kingdom.”  
“Yes, I know. Nagisa wrote me a letter last night mentioning it. I wrote him back in the morning.”  
“Did Nagisa tell you something else?”

Caesar thought it for a second before answering. He was about to tell her everything. That Nagisa told him who she was, and was going to warn her about Prince Willem being in the castle, but… Nagisa mentioned in his letter that Liz was miserable, and that despite her constant manifests of staying in the Nighttime Kingdom, she was still missing Prince Willem.

“He wrote that you wanted to stay in the Tea House,” he half lied while he spun her around. “Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer to stay in the Moon Castle? I’m sure Claudia wouldn’t mind to appoint you as her lady-in-waiting again.”  
“Life in a Palace isn’t for me, Caesar. I’m grateful that you’ve shown me the same kindness that the people in Twilight Kingdom, but… I wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place.”  
“One day, I’d like for you to tell me about your life,” he commented grabbing her waist again to lead her.  
“I shall do it one day, Lord Baroque,” she teased him.

The young man squeezed her waist a little more and the tickling made her giggle. She was really having a good time. 

After the dance with Caesar finished, the Colonel walked her to the food table and later on, he suggested a walk around the gardens, since they had been especially illuminated for the festivities. She was about to agree, when a man walked by and graciously took her hand and kissed the back of it asking for a dance. She was going to refuse, but then she saw his eyes and her heart skipped a beat and for a moment she forgot to breathe.

“Well, My Lady, would you favor me with a dance?”

The Colonel was about to step in, but then, to the military man’s surprise, she nodded. 

The man led her to the center of the ball and held her close to him. His hands on her had an effect on her, like she wanted to whisper to him to never let her go. The music started to play and for the second time in the night, the orchestra played a waltz and whoever you chose for a partner, you had to dance through it all.

Liz looked at the man and she didn’t have to guess who he was. Despite that he had hidden very well most of his features, she had no doubts on whom she was dancing with. Why? Why did she say yes? She hadn’t been able to refuse his proposal. It had been an instinct, like she had been under a spell and couldn’t refuse. It was risky, way too risky. However, as long as she remained silent, Willem shouldn’t be able to guess who she was. After all, she was dead to him.

Willem, on the other hand, had no more doubt that it was her. Her scent was unmistakable and all her features were exactly like hers. Besides, his heart felt at ease for the first time in months. The moment he had grabbed her hand, he had felt a connection that had been lost for the past months. As if at last he had found his missing treasure. That was proof to him that he was dancing with Liz.

They both stared into each other’s eyes and it seemed like the world vanished around them. It was just them dancing to the music.

“You know,” Willem said, “You remind me of someone who was very dear to me. Someone I loved from the bottom of my heart.”

Her heart ached at his comment. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t want to risk for him to see past her disguise.

“But it’s impossible,” he said with a sigh, “she died and nothing can bring people from the death. No matter how similar another person looks or sounds, it’s never her in the end.”  
“Do you miss her?” she ventured to ask in a whisper. She figured that maybe whispering would disguise her voice.  
“Dearly, but she’s gone,” he said like he had regretted to have started the conversation and now wanted to end it.

She gulped.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

He didn’t say anything else. She then placed her cheek on his chest and listened to his heart. It was pounding loudly, _probably due to the dance_ , she thought.

When the music stopped, many of the dancing couples bowed or made a curtsy to thank their partner for the dance. However, they both remained gazing and holding each other. They weren’t moving at all, and people started to notice them more.

Suddenly, Liz came to her senses and she broke free from his grip. Before she could create a distance between them, Willem grabbed her wrist.

“Dance with me again,” he pleaded.

She was about to deny this, but then again something compelled her to agree.

The music started again, and she was swept away by his gentle, yet firm embrace. They danced to the sound of music and, this time it was an Allemande. They were both careful to not let any of their garments fall or even get a little twisted.

Caesar, Lucious, Claudia, and practically everybody who knew who were those two dancing at their own rhythm and music stared intently at them. Caesar looked like he was analyzing the situation. The one who was furious about the couple was the Colonel. He glared at the man like he was wishing for his death. He was really waiting for the dance to finish.

Liz was really worried at this point. She really wanted to conceal her identity from him, but at the same time she wanted to scream to him that she was there with him. She panted at the thought.

“Are you tired?” he asked in a concern tone halfway through the dance.

She shook her head.

The dance ended and they bowed to each other as custom demanded.

At midnight it was scheduled the setting of the fireworks announcing the ending of the first day of festivities. Many people chose to take off their masks, but Liz didn’t want to. When the countdown started, Colonel Drago tried to reach to her, but Willem grabbed her hand and led her outside of the room. She felt as if her body wasn’t hers anymore. She followed him without questioning him where he was leading her. He took her to a beautiful spot in the gardens, where she could enjoy the beautiful effects of the fireworks.

“The fireworks sure are pretty,” commented Liz in a gasp.  
“I can think of something prettier,” said Willem.

The girl glanced at him. Willem had removed his mask and was looking at the fireworks with a sad look. She had seen him like that only once, back when he had reminisced of his mother. Perhaps he was thinking in her, in her death. She felt a lump in her throat and her heart ached again.

She wanted to leave, but there was something that didn’t allow her to leave the Prince like that.

“Is there something I can do to help you?” she gently asked.

There it was. If he had had any doubts that the woman next to him was Liz, now those doubts vanished. Liz was too kind to see someone troubled and no to feel obliged to help them.

“Nothing, except… Would you be my escort tomorrow night, My Lady?”

Again, she wanted to refuse, but then she shocked herself by accepting. Willem smiled. 

At that moment, Colonel Drago showed up.

“Where have you been?” he asked concerned.  
“I’m sorry, Colonel. I was taken to see the fireworks,” she replied. 

She realized she had been rude not to let the Colonel know where she was.

“This is —” she started to say, but then she remembered that she never asked him his name, and it would’ve been far too suspicious that she knew his name.  
“Prince Willem, from Twilight Kingdom,” greeted the prince interrupting. “With whom do I have the honor of speaking with?”  
“This is Colonel Drago, from Gedonelune Kingdom,” answered Liz, whilst the Colonel bowed to the Prince.  
“And I just realize that my dance partner hasn’t —”  
“Actually, we need to leave,” interrupted Liz. “It’s been a pleasure, Your Highness,” she said with a curtsy.

Then she dragged the Colonel out of the Prince’s sight.

The Colonel insisted on escorting her back to her home since he hadn’t have much time to spend with her thanks to “that hellish hoarding Prince” as he called Willem.

When they arrived, Colonel Drago asked her again to dance with her the next night.

“I’d love to, Colonel, but unfortunately, I’ve already agreed to the Prince from Twilight Kingdom that I’d be escorting him,” she said.

Drago couldn’t help to think something was odd. She had insisted in going unescorted to the events and now, out of the blue, had accepted a strange Prince to allow her to escort her. Liz could imagine what the Colonel was thinking. 

“How about we dance on the third day?”  
“I’d prefer if you could let me escort you on the third day.”

Liz thought it for a moment, but then nodded. The Colonel was happy and left with the carriage.

* * *

“It was good that you decided to enjoy the party in the end, Sire,” Vain commented.

Willem had the impression that Vain didn’t get to see very well the woman he danced with. He was going to let Vain know whom he had danced with, but decided not to. He wanted to keep this a secret for the time being. However, he couldn’t keep it quiet for that long.

The next day, Willem attended to a brunch reserved for only the nobility. He was seated next to Queen Zenobia and Lady Hinoe. Vain on the other hand remained behind a pillar to keep an eye on him. He thought the Prince was acting rather strange. Willem’s attitude towards the whole festivities was kind of bipolar, sometimes he seemed like he didn’t enjoy things like the brunch, and sometimes he looked like he was enjoying his youth like last night with that girl. He was having a hard time reading him and, therefore, doing his duty. Not for the first time wished the week was over so they could go back home.

* * *

The next night, Liz became aware of something. 

Willem’s power over her was extremely overwhelming. As soon as she saw the prince, a sense of urgency to hold him, to kiss him, to make him hers took over her. Not grasping it at first, she smiled when she saw him at the top of the stairs. She gasped at how handsome he looked. This time he wasn’t wearing a hat, so his horns were visible. But he was wearing a red mask with a matching colour, long-sleeve shirt, black pants and a black cloak. He kind of looked like a demon, and she was more than willing to let him ravish her at any moment.

When the Prince saw her, he held his breath. Tonight, she was wearing a stunning strapless silver gown. She was also wearing a necklace with diamonds, very similar to one that Willem possessed and had belonged to his mother. The mask that she wore was similar to the golden one she had worn the previous night, except that this one had the form of a butterfly. She had done her hair in a sided high ponytail with curls.

Willem bowed to her at the same time she made a curtsy to greet him. Then he took her hand and gallantly kissed the back of it. The girl smiled at him, and Willem returned the smile, knowing she had felt the connection again. Unknown to both of them, someone else was watching this scene with scorn.

They decided to greet the hosts again. Lucious and Claudia were surprised to see who was escorting their friend this time. Claudia was concerned about this, since she was very sure that Colonel Drago was also after Liz.

They danced and walked around the gardens. Willem kept a hold on her hand at all times. He apologized for it and explained to her that it was so they wouldn’t get separated. She told him she didn’t mind and squeezed his hand. They talked little, neither of them wanting to reveal more than they wanted the other to know, yet they both felt at peace with each other’s company, sharing their silence.

They went to one of the fountains and there, Liz saw how again the Nighttime Kingdom had played with the candle lights and the moonlight in an attempt to impress their guests. The prince embraced her from behind and his hands caressed her arms in a lustful manner. The girl shivered despite that she felt her body getting hotter by the second. She gazed at him and the longing in her eyes was unmistakable to him.

He leaned over her, but right before their lips touched, a thunder sounded in the distance. It was like a wake-up call for Liz. She turned her face at the last moment and pushed him. He was so surprised by this that she took his bewilderment to her advantage and escaped from him. He chased after her. Just as they both entered the palace rain started to pour down and many people entered into the castle to shield from the water. 

The mass of people that gathered inside the palace was so considerable that despite that Liz wanted to leave, she found it impossible since a large group was blocking the path that led to the staircase where the carriages were congregated. She then turned around and found herself running through some unfamiliar halls. She quickly entered into one room, believing she could hide there for a moment until the path cleared for her.

She looked around to see what kind of place she had entered. It looked like a gathering office. There was a big round table with fifteen seats and a map of the world engraved in it. She walked the table until she reached the Twilight Kingdom and with her fingers caressed the lines that shaped it.

“There you are,” said a voice behind her.

She turned around astound. Willem closed the door and then closed the gap between them.

“Prince Willem, I…”

As if to silence her in advance, Willem grabbed her by the neck and put his lips into hers. She put her hands on his chest in a futile attempt to stop him, but her body seemed to have a mind of its own and instead clutched his shirt.

The passion in the kiss made their hearts beat together in a fast rhythm, and when their bodies pressed against each other, their breaths grew heavier. Willem embraced her in a possessive manner. She wanted to stop him, but at the same time her body pressed against his, yearning for him. Willem kissed her neck, her nape and her collar bone. Every time his lips touched her bared skin, Liz gasped and panted waiting for the next kiss. 

He wanted to rip off the dress and delight himself in her whole naked body, but he knew she wouldn’t let him. So he had to conform in grabbing her breast and to feel the fabric of the dress. She cried out at the sensation of him touching her, despite the fabric being in the way.

He pushed her, and the back of her hips were against the edge of the table. Willem lifted her, so she would sit on it. In a sort of aggressive, yet passionate manner, Willem clutched the hem of her dress and lifted it over her waist. He felt her underwear was in the middle of what he wanted, so that was the only thing he tore apart with no remorse, and apparently she didn’t either since she didn’t complain. On the contrary, she leaned back on the table and willingly spread her legs whilst Willem unzipped his pants and directed his erect member into her entrance. The longing and ravenous gaze he had in his eyes, was more than enough for her to lean up and kiss him passionately. Whilst their tongues were in a firing dancing, Willem thrusted his member in her, which made Liz to forget about breathing for a second feeling the sheer pleasure of becoming one with the person she loved. Both hearts started to pound loudly whilst the rhythm that Willem established became stronger and wilder. She gasped feeling how her body was practically meeting Willem halfway since she had also been deprived of their intimate acts all these months.

He was practically on top of her and his contact deepened inside her at the sound of her wanting for more. She let out a loud gasp at this. Willem was starting to lose himself in her, especially when he felt her insides tightening at the pleasure she was feeling. He was panting in a rough, yet sensual manner that made Liz to want him to scream instead of panting. Scream out the passionate and carnal sensation they both were sharing. The heat emanating from their bodies made them sweat and they were close to reach their limit. He then focused on her face, and what he saw made him mad. She was still wearing her mask. In swift movement he snatched it and tossed it off.

Liz cried out when he took off her mask, but then she saw in his eyes that he already knew who she was. That’s why he was doing this. It wasn’t just a fling with a stranger from another country. He knew it was her, and like many times before, he had lustfully craved for her, the same way she had desired him.

Willem held both of her hands in his and they laced their fingers. He then leaned over her and started to smell and kiss her neck as his thrusting became faster. When he sniffed her, something clicked inside her head. Willem had told her once that Dragonkins had keen noses. He had recognized her from her scent!

He finally announced he was getting to his limit, and soon after they both reached climax together. For a moment he was motionless and looked unfazed gazing down at Liz, who was sprawled under him. 

At that moment, the door opened and Vain entered.

“Sire, are you…?” then Vain stopped in his tracks when he saw the Prince in a very compromising position and what shocked him even more was that the girl who was underneath him was Liz.  
“Get out!” bellowed Willem.

Vain didn’t need to be told twice. He left the room as fast as his legs allowed him to, and shut the door behind him.

Liz blushed at the sight of Vain. She knew that the clever guardian wouldn’t need to think too much before knowing what had happened between them, especially in the position they were at the moment he had entered.

Their fingers were still entwined. He then leaned over her and kissed her in the same raw and passionate way that he had taken her.

With a soft sound their lips parted and then, still panting, Willem growled very close to her face:

“I want an explanation.”


	10. Chapter 10

Willem’s face was very close to her, she could see that anger had welled-up in his eyes now that their lust had been satisfied.

“I want an explanation,” snarled the Prince.

Liz froze under his glare. He then got his limp member out of her and Liz could feel his seed trickling out of her. After he zipped his pants again, he pulled her so she could sit down. Then, he grabbed her and lifted her in his arms. 

“Where are you taking me?” she asked startled. “Put me down!”

He wanted to chuckle at remembering their first meeting. However, he was feeling very upset at the moment.

“Stop squirming,” he commanded, “I’m taking you to my room.”  
“Y-Your room?”   
“Yes, we can talk there more freely.”

He used his tail to open the door and stepped outside the room. Vain was there and he walked towards the prince. Ashamed of what Vain had witnessed and how the Prince was holding her, Liz hid her face in Willem’s chest.

“I’ll take Liz back to my room. Make sure no one follows or disturbs us,” said Willem.  
“Yes, Sire.”

Once Willem got back into his room, he put her onto the couch that was in the little parlor he had been provided as well as his bedchamber. She gulped at the sight of him glaring down on her. At that moment a flash of lightning illuminated the whole room, which made Willem look more terrifying.

“I know you’re mad at me, Willem,” she said. “And I understand it, but I —”  
“Why? Why didn’t you contact me? For six months I thought you were dead and now I find you here in the farthest kingdom I, or anyone, could ever think of?”   
“It wasn’t on purpose that I came here, everything just… it sort of happened like that.”  
“Tell me everything that happened then.”

She sighed.

“Do you remember the night I told you I was called your personal courtesan?”

Liz explained everything to him. Her sneaking to see Luca and Nox out of sympathy, knowing that they were fellow orphans who used to live in the Twilight Kingdom, but they had moved to another kingdom and found their new residency in Gedonelune. How the Prime Minister had misunderstood this and thought she was a spy and, therefore, shipped her away in order to protect his nephews. 

Willem interrupted her in this and told her about how he was deceived and drugged, and therefore he had been unable to stop his uncle. How he, Lacan and Felix had been upset when they heard this. And how they had asked, or more like, commanded for her immediate return to Castle in the Sky.

She told him that indeed Second Lieutenant Rex received the letter, but it had been too late. She continued her tale when she was on the ship, the fire incident and how she had ended up in the water. Then she told him about Hisoka and the Tea House.

“I’m glad you’re safe and found people who were good to you, but I still fail to see why you said nothing, why you hid here.”

Liz kept quiet. She bit her lower lip, which Willem knew that it was a gesture she made when she refrained to say something he might find preposterous or irrational.

“Tell me,” he commanded.

He gazed at her and she tried to avert her gaze, but he grabbed her chin forcing her to see him directly into his eyes. She sighed. Then she told him about her life in the Tea House and how she had heard about that scandal involving the Count.

“I was going to write you. I started to prepare a letter to be sent to you and to Officer Rex that Hisoka kindly had agreed to take with him in his next voyage. However, when I heard that story, I realized you were better off without me.”  
“What made you think that idiotic idea?”  
“I just told you that —”  
“Liz, even if my position as future king were to be jeopardized, I would still choose you a million times without question.”  
“That’s what I was worried, Willem! You can’t do that! You can’t turn your back to your people and your kingdom! Not even for me!”  
“If they can’t accept it, I can’t be their king,” he retorted.  
“Willem, listen to me,” she said grabbing his face with her hands. “You’re destined to be a king. I can’t think of anybody better than you to succeed your father.”

Willem grabbed her wrists, leaned over her and kissed her passionately. Liz surrounded his neck with her arms. Again, a thunder sounded and then a lightening illuminated the room, but this time they hardly noticed it. When Willem pulled away he gazed into her eyes, and cupped her face in his hands and with his thumb sweetly and gently caressed her cheek.

“I know you’ve been worried about your position in Castle in the Sky, but there’s something I couldn’t tell you before, but I need to share with you tonight.”  
“What is it?”  
“You’re what we, Dragonkins, call my Soul Mate.”

She was going to ask, but he explained it before she did. She stood up and started walking around the sofa. After a pause, she said:

“Willem, I’m not sure about that —”  
“Liz, I am,” he said standing up as well and planting himself in front of her. “The moment I thought you died, my life wasn’t the same. I just couldn’t find myself and I felt that there was a part of me missing. In fact… I was ready to join you in the Afterlife, if Lacan and Felix hadn’t stopped me…”  
“Willem…!” she exclaimed horrified at the thought.   
“Tell me you didn’t feel the same,” he said placing his hand on her cheek. “If you tell me that you were blissfully happy here and I never crossed your mind, not even once, then I’ll grant you that you’re not my Soul Mate and you might not meant to be my life partner.”

She kept quiet and Willem knew he had hit the right spot. She hadn’t been entirely happy during their time apart. He took her hands and wrapped them in his.

“I’ll ask you one more time. Please, marry me. Grant me that honor,” he said and kissed her hands.  
“I’m not sure if I’m suit to be your life partner,” she replied sadly.  
“I’m not asking if you’re suit to be my wife; I’m asking you if you consider me suitable to be your husband.”  
“Willem…”

For the first time, she didn’t think of him as a prince or a future king, or thought of her as a mere commoner. It was just them, two people with no titles whatsoever, asking each other to love and live together for the rest of their lives. 

Liz lowered her head, but Willem with his finger grabbed her chin and tilted her head up so she could gaze into his eyes. He leaned over her and his lips brushed hers, and ever so gently kissed her. The kiss wasn’t the passionate and lustful one that normally they shared before and during their act, but this one was filled with so much affection, with such a genuine and pure love… 

After his lips pulled away, Willem gazed at her in a pleading way. He wanted an answer, no matter which. Then to his surprise and exhilaration, Liz nodded whilst she put her hand on the hand he had on her cheek. They both shed tears and kissed again, but this time more passionately.

Willem lifted her again in his arms and spun around. He was jubilant, and his blissful happiness was shared with Liz. He took her to his bedroom where he laid her down on the bed and proceeded to devour her.

Liz spent the night in Willem’s bedroom. They made love to each other during the whole night.

* * *

The next day, Vain unwillingly entered Willem’s bedroom to wake the Prince. He looked at the Prince, who was embracing Liz’s naked body in a possessive, yet protective manner. He looked so peaceful and, somehow, he looked relieved. Like the darkness that had surrounded him had faded away. Vain was really impressed of how Liz could change the Prince in so little time.

“Sire,” he said nudging him, since neither Willem nor Liz woke up to his early calls. “Sire,” he called again shaking him harder.

Both Willem and Liz opened their eyes startled. Willem shielded Liz, so Vain wouldn’t look at her. Vain turned around so they were sure he wasn’t peeking or anything of the sort.

“I’m sorry to wake you, but it is morning already and you have that diplomatic brunch again. And I’m sure Miss Liz would like to change his clothes?”

Vain had walked to the window and thought it hadn’t been such a good idea since the window pane reflected the image that was behind him. He could see Liz’s naked silhouette getting up and putting on her dress and Willem, who had put on a robe, was helping her to lace the dress.

“You can turn now, Vain,” instructed Willem.

He did as he was told and, although Liz wasn’t as neatly dressed as last night, she still looked radiant.

“Hello, Vain,” she said with an awkward smile.  
“It’s nice to see you again, Miss Liz,” he said.

However, he didn’t smile. Liz had the impression that he was mad too. She started to have the feeling that everybody would hold a grudge for what she did. The sense of uneasiness took over her and Willem noticed it.

“Vain, Liz has agreed to marry me, so you should address to the future Royal Princess with more courtesy,” declared Willem putting on her necklace back in her beautiful neck.  
“He doesn’t have to…” she retorted in a mumble.  
“Is this true?” Vain asked her with surprise.

She nodded.

Vain wanted to remain angry with her a little longer, but he couldn’t repress a smile. He went over her and he tenderly hugged and congratulated her.

“Hands off, Vain,” Willem joked separating the two of them. “That’s my fiancée you’re groping.”

Vain also smiled to the Prince. Willem was smiling and the guardian couldn’t help to notice an extreme shift in his behaviour. Vain wanted to hug him to congratulate him, but he was still a little wary that the Prince might be holding a grudge. However, Willem put his hand on his guardian’s shoulder and nodded. His guardian embraced the Prince and congratulated him too.

“Vain, may I ask you for an enormous favour?” asked the girl.  
“Sure, what is it?”  
“I need to ask Princess Claudia for something more suitable to wear during the day since my clothes are… somewhere else…”  
“That’s right,” Willem said realizing what she meant, “You’re not living in the palace, aren’t you?”  
“No. I’m living with some friends.”  
“Male friends?” asked Willem.

She kept quiet, so the Prince took it as an affirmative response.

“We shall talk about it later,” commented Willem. “Vain, go and request for Princess Claudia to come here. Do not say anything at all, and if she asks for more detail, tell her that it’s something that a woman can help with. Princess Claudia’s curiosity might make her to agree to come without further explanation.”  
“Yes, Sire.”

* * *

A few minutes later, predicted correctly by Willem, Claudia showed up in Willem’s room and what she saw left her rooted to the spot. Liz was on Willem’s lap giggling, whilst the Prince’s arm was embracing her from behind and was gently caressing her arm length at a soothing pace. The moment she had walked in, he was kissing her cheek. Liz was wearing the same dress of the previous night.

Vain had to clear his throat so the lovey-dovey couple realized that they had company. Liz immediately blushed and she jumped out of Willem’s lap, which seemed to upset the Prince a little, but he let it slide.

“Princess Claudia,” greeted Willem with a small bow.   
“Prince Willem,” replied Claudia with the same politeness.  
“Princess Claudia,” said Liz curtsying.  
“Liz, I’ve already told you to just call me Claudia,” she said rolling her eyes.  
“Don’t bother Princess,” chuckled Willem, “It took her a while to get used to the idea of calling me by my name too.”  
“So you two knew each other…” the Princess observed.

They both nodded. The Princess had suspected something when she saw the two of them together at the last night ball. However, it looked like they were more than friends by what she just saw.

“Princess, before anything else…” said Liz taking off her necklace and returning it to Claudia. “I wanted to thank you for lending me this.”  
“You’ll need it tonight too, Liz,” Claudia said refusing to take the necklace. “Your dress for tonight is ready. I was going to ask to be sent to you at midday… but I guess that you’re staying here?”  
“I…” she didn’t know what to say. She wanted to stay with Willem, but she also wanted to let everybody at the Tea House what happened last night. 

They must have been worried that she had stayed in the Palace, especially knowing that she didn’t quite enjoy the luxuries the Palace had. On the other hand, the Twilight Prince wasn’t so willing to let her go out of his side ever again, if it was possible. So he was going to answer for her, until…

“I’ll be going back to the Tea House a little later,” she finally said.   
“So you’re staying for brunch?” she asked excitedly. 

She really enjoyed Liz’s company and she thought it would’ve been better if Liz, like Caesar, had stayed in the Palace during the festivities. Liz smiled at Claudia’s enthusiasm.

“Well, I’d love to, but I don’t have anything to wear for such an occasion,” she said displaying herself so Claudia could notice she was wearing her last night ball gown, something the Princess had forgotten for a moment.  
“You’re right. I’ll give you some clothes for the brunch. I could probably arrange a room for you as well.”  
“That won’t be necessary, Your Highness.” Willem stepped in putting his hands on Liz’s shoulders. “She’s staying with me.”  
“With you, Prince Willem?” she asked in bewilderment.

Claudia had the feeling she was missing something very important. Liz blushed when she saw Claudia’s reaction.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand,” she said a little puzzled. “What is the concept of your relationship?”

Liz and Willem glanced at each other and then Willem embraced her tightly, like he didn’t want to let her go and rubbed his cheek against hers, which made Liz blush, but smiled at the same time.

“Willem, stop!” she whispered, but he didn’t care.  
“Princess Claudia. You may well be the first to know as our host and how good you’ve been with Liz…” he said this kissing Liz’s cheek. “Liz and I are going to get married. Arrangements will be made as soon as we get back to our kingdom.”  
“Married?!” she exclaimed stunned “Liz what is this?”

Liz sighed because she never explained to Claudia or anyone except Nagisa about her past. She always kept quiet or changed the subject.

“Willem, could I have a few minutes with Princess Claudia?”

 _Now she addresses the Prince without a title?! This is so strange_ , thought Princess Claudia.

“Very well, but stay here where I can keep an eye on you, would you?” he said letting her go reluctantly and walking towards a little table where Vain had made some coffee for the Princess and future Princess and he poured a cup for him.  
“Shall we take a seat?” asked Liz politely to Claudia signaling the sofa they had in the small foyer.  
“Actually, since you might need a change of clothes, why don’t you come to my private chambers and I give you something to wear for the brunch?”

At this comment, Willem growled. It was the first time, Claudia heard him growling. To be honest, it was the first time Claudia ever saw the Prince from Twilight express any emotion. She had always considered him to be a cold person, but with Liz he was different. This was the first time she had seen him acting lovingly, courteous and now, angry, although she was failing to see why he was angry.

“Willem,” Liz approached him and extended her hand.

He grabbed it and pulled her towards him, but this time the girl hardly budged and she just stood next to him. He kissed her palm.

“I promise to you, it’ll be just for a moment,” she said letting her being spoiled by the prince.

She knew Willem felt insecure. He was like suffering from the trauma of losing her and he was unwilling to let her go now he had found her again.

“Don’t take too long, please…” he begged kissing and sniffing her hand once more before releasing her.

She then walked towards Claudia.

“And, if Her Highness doesn’t mind,” Willem added, “I’d like if you could provide her for clothes not only for this brunch, but also for the next events,” suggested Willem sipping his coffee.

Claudia looked at Liz quite puzzled but amused at the same time; Liz, however, shook her head like saying she shouldn’t listen to him.

“I saw that,” responded Willem who seemed to be reading either a letter or a document of the sort.

She giggled and then went to him and gave him a light peck on the lips promising that she’d be back as soon as possible.

“You better be,” he said caressing her cheek.

* * *

Liz went to Claudia’s room, where her new lady-in-waiting and a few maids arranged a casual, yet refined petite ivory dress, whilst the Princess was wearing a porcelain colour dress with a pink ribbon at waist-length. 

“Thank you for lending me this beautiful dress, Princess,” she said after Liz changed.  
“Do not worry about it,” Claudia said. “Now, we have a few minutes before needing to present ourselves into the dining hall. So please,” she said taking Liz by the hand and leading her to a small sofa she had in her little parlor she had for her private chambers. “Tell me what’s happening, because I don’t understand. Everything seems so fast. Is the Prince threatening you or something?”  
“Why would the Prince be threatening me?”  
“I don’t know! But you just have to admit that things are going too fast for me not to be concerned about you and suspicious of him! I knew you were from Twilight Kingdom because you and Lucious told me, but this is…”

Liz calmed Claudia down and explained everything, including why she had felt sympathy towards the people who tried to assassinate Prince Felix and almost killed her. Basically she gave the same explanation that she’d given to Nagisa.

“So you do love him,” said Claudia in a confirmation tone.

Liz nodded.

“Well, in that case, I’ll be glad the day of your wedding ceremony,” she said hugging the girl. “I don’t know what awaits you, since marrying a Crown Prince might not be that easy, but Twilight Kingdom’s never been a kingdom that applies the same rules as other kingdoms.”  
“It’s not?”

Claudia shook her head.

“For example, despite having a Prime Minister, Monarchy is the most important thing for them. The Prime Minister must help the Monarch, whilst other kingdoms have a full Ministry staff to help Monarchy, and in some kingdoms even the Ministry has a little more power than the Kings or Queens themselves. Therefore, Kings and Princes still have the highest status, especially due to their ancestors, the Dragonkins.”

Liz took note in her head to read more about Twilight’s politics when she returned to the Palace. Perhaps she could ask Sigurd or Felix for some recommendations.

“Very well,” Claudia said standing up. “I think we should announce it then, so you may sit next to Prince Willem.”  
“No!”

Liz stopped her. She looked terrified at the idea.

“Princess Claudia, I appreciate it, but I’m not…” she had trouble expressing this. “I don’t think I’m ready to accept my new role. I love Willem, I mean Prince Willem…”  
“You can call him without his honorific, Liz. I, on the other hand, cannot do that because of diplomatic etiquette. But you don’t see me speaking to Lucious formally after some time spent together, do you?”  
“Well, I love Willem, but still everything is new for me. Besides, if people finds out, the news would arrive immediately to Twilight Kingdom, and I want to give these news personally, especially because I’ll have to apologize profusely to the people who I made think that I was dead.”  
“I think I understand…”  
“I even have to talk to Willem about this, about how we’re handling this. I need to ask him all sorts of questions, so please, if you could just…”

She kept quiet. The truth was finally starting to sink in.

“Liz… do you want to go back home?” she asked referring to the Tea House.

Liz again thought this for a moment.

“What is ‘home’, Princess?” she said with great sadness.  
“Liz…”

Claudia suddenly realized what she unknowingly had done. Liz was starting to have doubts. 

“You’ve lent me this beautiful dress,” Liz finally said, “but now I have to ask you to allow me to be absent for the brunch because I need to sort my mind out.”  
“Liz, are you having second thoughts?”  
“I’ve always had second thoughts when it comes to the Prince. Not about my feelings or his feelings, but about everything else…”  
“Liz…”  
“May I be excused for a moment, please?”

She dashed out of the room without waiting for an answer.

“Liz, wait!”

* * *

The gardens couldn’t be fully appreciated during the day since the Nighttime Kingdom rarely had blue skies. And due to the previous storm a fog was still lingering around it. Normally, Liz would think that this would be a gloomy view, but right now she was feeling that this was really suitable for her current mood. She was about to let herself cry until she heard some footsteps behind her. She turned around and then she saw Colonel Drago.

“Hello, Miss Liz.”  
“Colonel Drago,” she said wiping a few tears that had welled-up in her eyes. “It’s very good to see you, Sir.”  
“You don’t seem happy though,” he teased.  
“No, I am, I just…” she said forcing a smile because she didn’t want to worry him, but she just couldn’t hold it longer.

She started to cry her heart out. Seeing this, the Colonel got closer and held her and tried to calm her down. 

She again had doubts about being with Willem. Why? Everything was well at least until she talked with Claudia. Liz started to figure out that, somehow, Willem had her on some sort of spell. Whenever she was with him, everything seemed possible, their status, their history, the politics, all were paper barriers that could easily be burnt or ripped. However, once she stepped outside his presence range, Liz started to feel anxious and had so many doubts about their future. Nothing seemed easy anymore.

The Colonel was soothing her and, when Liz tried to pull away from him, she saw he had the same longing as Willem in his eyes. He gently wiped some tears from her face with his thumbs and he leaned over her.

“Colonel!” she exclaimed stepping away from him.  
“I’m sorry, Miss Liz, it’s just… Well, I…”

Liz knew. She could tell. He wore the same gaze Willem, Lacan or Felix had shown her. He grabbed one of her hands and he pulled her towards him and embraced her.

“I’ve been patient, but seeing you dance with another man and after losing sight of you during that sea of people was unbearable to me. I only wished that you had decided to stay in the palace instead of risking going back to your other friends. When I heard that you were still here, I came looking for you.”  
“Colonel…”  
“Be my escort not only for tonight, but also for tomorrow.”  
“Colonel, I’m sorry,” she said trying to pull away. “I’m really sorry, but I’m not…” she sighed. “I can’t…”  
“Why not?”

She remained quiet. 

He then leaned over her and tried to kiss her, but at the last moment, he felt like a stick or branch falling between the two of them. He instinctively stepped back and he suddenly sensed something hard on his chest and forcing him to retreat even more. He looked around and he saw that what he thought was a stick was actually a black staff with some golden lines and its handle with the shape of a dragon.

“I would advise you, Colonel, that you desist when a lady has already said no, especially if that lady is already with someone else,” said Willem putting himself between them and lowering his staff.  
“Your Highness, I believe this doesn’t concern you,” the Colonel said.  
“I believe it does,” he said putting his arms around Liz’s shoulders. “Liz is my fiancée, so I shall ask you to give her the space and respect she deserves as my future wife.”  
“Willem!”

She was alarmed that he had blurted out the news of their relationship, and worst for her was that the Colonel seemed to be hurt by these news.

“Is this true, Miss Liz?”

She sadly gazed at him and nodded.

“Now, Colonel,” said Willem in an icy tone “I’d like you to leave us alone since my fiancée and I need to talk.”

The Colonel clenched his fists like he wanted to strike Willem. The Prince noticed this and glared at him with a “try-it-if-you-can” gaze and stood up to his full height in a threatening way letting the Colonel know that he had no trouble to start a fight. The Colonel pondered his options, but decided not to act. He glanced to Liz and then to Willem, bowed to them and left. Liz wanted to follow him to apologize, but Willem stopped her.

“Willem! Why did you say that?”  
“What is it? Did I tell a lie?”  
“N-No, you didn’t, but…”  
“The Colonel was stepping into a thin and dangerous line without knowing it, Liz. Although you did try to warn him about it.”  
“You heard everything?!”  
“Everything,” confirmed Willem unfazed. “Princess Claudia went to my room to tell me about your conversation. Why do you still have doubts of us?”  
“Because there are many things to consider. Things we haven’t been able to discuss because everything is going so fast.”

She felt tears welling up in her eyes again. This time, it was Willem who held her tightly and he gently kissed her head.

“I know, my love. I understand this all is so overwhelming,” then he cupped her face in his hands, “but tell me one thing: Are your feelings wavering?”  
“Never,” she said without hesitation.  
“Do you think my feelings to be false or provisional?”  
“No.”  
“Good, because they aren’t,” he said resting his forehead on hers. “I love you and it’s all that matters. Now tell me, what made you have doubts again?”

She gazed into his eyes and in shame she answered:

“The word ‘Home.’ People have been using that word, but… I don’t know how to respond to that.”  
“What do you think ‘Home’ is?”

She pulled away from him and walked towards the fountain whilst she thought this for a moment.

“It’s a place where I can feel at ease. Where I can feel the love people dear to me and give it back as well, where I feel sure and secure.”  
“Close your eyes and tell me where do you feel that way, and I promise you, I’ll take you there myself.”

She did as Willem instructed. She really thought it carefully and then suddenly opened her eyes and then wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. Willem instinctively embraced her as well, but he had to admit he was surprised by this.

“Here,” she said. “I feel at home here, in your arms.”

The Prince smiled in bliss and tightened his embrace.

“Then, my sweet love, whenever you feel lost, remember to come home.”

Liz breathed in his scent and she thought she could never get tired of it. Willem felt satisfaction knowing that Liz felt the same way he felt for her. Knowing that made him tell himself that, no matter what comes in the way, everything was going to be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is the end of this second volume, but there are still other fics related to this series, so I hope that if you enjoyed it, you look forward for the next volumes. Thanks for reading it!


End file.
